In this speech after the 2026 midterm elections, Senator Bernie Sanders thanks the voters and volunteers who gave Democrats control of the House and Senate, and sets out what he believes a Democratic Congress must do starting in January. He calls for a wealth tax on billionaires, Medicare for All, a moratorium on AI data centers, a $20 minimum wage, stronger Social Security, cuts to military spending, and comprehensive immigration reform, saying these steps would restore Americans’ faith in democracy. Read the full transcript below:
Thanking the Voters and the Winning Candidates
BERNIE SANDERS: Hello, everybody. Let me begin by thanking the millions of Americans who are actively involved in the election yesterday. The people who knocked on doors, the people who made phone calls, and all the things that a winning campaign requires. Thank you for what you did.
And let me also congratulate the great candidates who won in US Senate races, in House races, and in state elections all across America.
On a personal note, I look forward to working with all of the newly elected senators, and I thank them very much for their hard work in this campaign and for giving the Democrats a strong majority.
“Vote As If He Were on the Ballot”
Yesterday, Trump told us to vote as if he were on the ballot. “Vote as if he were on the ballot.” That’s what he said. And that is exactly what the American people did.
Together, we stood up to authoritarianism and a president who does not believe in the Constitution or the rule of law, and we won. With Democratic control over the Senate and the House, we will now finally be able to hold Donald Trump accountable. That is a big deal. But as important as it is, it is not enough. We have got to do more.
Why People Are Giving Up on Democracy
Whether we like it or not, we are living in an unprecedented moment in American history where our country faces extraordinary crises. We cannot and must not run away from them when Democrats assume power in January. These crises must be dealt with.
It is no secret that in the United States and all over the world, people are giving up on democracy. Now why is that?
And the answer is that all over the world, not just in America, working families are struggling to put food on the table and pay for basic necessities, while the very richest people become much richer. And throughout our country and many other countries, ordinary people are saying, “Does their government even know that they exist? Or are elected officials too busy worrying about the needs of the rich and the powerful?”
This is an American issue, but in fact an international issue. And in my view, the American people have had enough.
The American People Want Real Change
They are demanding real change and bold policies that will dramatically improve their lives. In the richest country on Earth, the American people want a government that stands for working families, not billionaire campaign contributors.
And that is not just Bernie Sanders talking. According to a recent AP poll, 80% of registered voters want either, quote, “complete and total upheaval” or “substantial change” in how this country is run. And that includes 97% of Democrats, 90% of independents, and 58% of Republicans.
In other words, the American people understand that the economy today is rigged and that we cannot continue the same old same old establishment politics and establishment policies. The American people want change, real change. And yesterday’s election confirms just that.
Income and Wealth Inequality
Let me give you some examples of what I mean and the issues that we have got to deal with. In our country today, income and wealth inequality has reached unprecedented levels.
The top 1% now owns more wealth than the bottom 93%. One man, Elon Musk, owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. In my view, that is insane. And I think that’s how most Americans feel.
Democrats, when they gained control in January of the House and the Senate, cannot ignore this grotesque inequality.
A Wealth Tax on Billionaires
We must take on the greed of the very, very rich and their incredible wealth. And that means a Democratic Congress must pass a wealth tax on billionaires.
At a time when billionaires pay a lower effective tax rate than truck drivers or nurses, we must enact a 5% wealth tax on billionaires so that we can provide every working class family in the country, a family of four, with a $12,000 direct payment. In other words, if you’re a working class family of four, that’s $3,000 for every man, woman and child. $12,000.
Furthermore, with that tax on billionaires, we can build 7 million units of low income and affordable housing. We can make public colleges and universities tuition free. And we can provide universal free childcare for 13 million children. That is what a wealth tax on billionaires can do.
Ending the Oligarchs’ Stranglehold on Our Political System
But taxing the oligarchs means more than just taking on their wealth. It means ending their stranglehold over our political system.
Elon Musk and his billionaire friends have poured a record breaking $2 billion into the recent election. That is absurd.
The American people want Congress to overturn Citizens United, abolish super PACs, and establish public funding of elections. Democracy must mean one person, one vote, not billionaires buying elections.
Health Care Must Be a Human Right
But it’s not just massive income and wealth inequality that we have to deal with, or a corrupt campaign finance system. In America today, as everybody knows, that I get the same response wherever I go in this country. Everybody understands that our health care system is broken, it is dysfunctional, and it is wildly expensive.
We spend twice as much per person on health care as any other major country.
Almost twice as much.
Yet, despite that huge expenditure, more than 90 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured. Over half a million people go bankrupt each year because of medical debt. We pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world, and tragically, more than 60,000 Americans die unnecessarily every year because they cannot afford medical care. How cruel is that?
We must repeal the trillion dollars in cuts Trump made to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to prevent 15 million Americans from losing their health care. We must restore ACA tax credits to stop the outrageous premium spikes for 20 million Americans.
But that is nowhere near enough. Health care must be considered as a human right, not a privilege. That means passing Medicare for All legislation now supported by 66% of the American people.
As an immediate first step, Democrats must lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 down to 55, expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing, and guarantee universal health care coverage for every child from birth through age 19. All of this can be accomplished with 51 votes in the Senate through the reconciliation process.
The Threat of Unregulated Artificial Intelligence
But it’s not just income and wealth inequality that we have to deal with, or a corrupt campaign finance system, or a dysfunctional health care system. We must deal with artificial intelligence, the most transformational technology in the history of humanity.
In America today, big tech oligarchs are spending trillions of dollars on artificial intelligence and robotics with virtually no regulation. This revolutionary technology will transform the lives of every man, woman, and child in our country and around the world.
Left unchecked, AI and robotics will destroy tens of millions of jobs, devastate our children’s mental health, eviscerate our privacy rights, drive up electricity rates, strain water supplies, and transform warfare. If AI becomes smarter than human beings and escapes human control, it will also pose an existential threat to the very existence of humanity.
We cannot allow a handful of big tech billionaires to become even richer and more powerful by ramming this dangerous technology down our throats.
A Moratorium on AI Data Centers
Democrats must enact a national moratorium on AI data centers, must pause advanced AI development, and ban superintelligence.
And, by the way, I might mention that yesterday, in the election, in dozens of communities throughout our country, citizens voted for a moratorium on the construction of data centers. In other words, a moratorium on data centers is exactly what the American people want.
A Living Wage and the Right to Organize
But my friends, it is not just oligarchy, a corrupt campaign finance system, a broken health care system, and uncontrolled AI. In America today, while the very rich get richer, 60%, six-zero percent of our people live paycheck to paycheck, and millions work long, long hours for incredibly low wages.
That must change. The $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. Democrats must raise it to a living wage of at least $20 an hour and make it easier for workers to form unions by passing the PRO Act. A job must lift people out of poverty, not keep them in it.
Protecting Seniors and Expanding Social Security
Further, in our country today, one third of our seniors are struggling economically, and more than 20% survive, are trying to survive, on less than $15,000 a year. Nearly half of older Americans have no retirement savings, and no idea how they will retire with a shred of dignity.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk pays the same amount into Social Security as someone earning $184,600 a year. That is absurd.
By applying the Social Security payroll tax to all income above $250,000 including capital gains and dividends, we could increase benefits by $2,400 a year, lift millions of seniors out of poverty, improve cost of living adjustments, and keep Social Security solvent for generations without raising taxes on the bottom 91% of Americans.
We must also restore the traditional pension plans corporate America took away so that every worker can count on a guaranteed income in retirement. That is what a Democratic Congress must do.
Military Spending and the War in Iran
Let me be clear. In America today, we spend more on the military than the next six nations combined. Despite massive waste, fraud, and abuse, the Pentagon has repeatedly failed independent audits and cannot account for trillions of dollars in spending.
Adding insult to injury, Trump has dragged us into an illegal and unconstitutional war in Iran that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
We must end this disastrous war. We must cut off all funding for the genocidal government in Israel, and we must substantially reduce military spending.
Instead of pouring $1.1 trillion into a bloated Pentagon and never ending wars, a Democratic Congress must build the best public education system in the world with no teacher earning less than $60,000 a year.
ICE and Comprehensive Immigration Reform
And let me touch on one more subject that Democrats must deal with. Since Trump took office, ICE agents have shot American citizens in cold blood, have broken down doors to arrest people, and have sent five year old children to detention centers.
These actions are not only immoral and disgraceful, they are unconstitutional. Democrats must immediately rescind the $75 billion Republicans gave Trump to fund his domestic army.
Instead of ICE agents terrorizing communities throughout the country, we must finally move to comprehensive immigration reform and a path towards citizenship for the undocumented.
These Policies Are Not Radical
Let’s be clear. All of the policies I have just discussed, and more that I have not mentioned, are not radical. They are precisely what a strong majority of the American people want.
So we are in a moment in American history where a lot of folks are losing faith in democracy. They are struggling every day just to stay alive, while at the same time billionaires have more money than they can spend than a thousand lifetimes, and are getting richer and richer all of the time.
Giving Hope to the American People
So what we are talking about now is not only the need to fight for economic justice, we are fighting to give hope to the American people, to allow them to understand that, in fact, their government can work for them, can address the crises that they face, and will pay attention to the needs of the men, women, and children in our country who are struggling and not just the very, very wealthy campaign contributors.
That is, in my view, what Democrats have got to do when they assume power in January.
We can do it. We must do it. And I look forward to working with all of you to make sure that it happens. Thank you all very much.
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