Bernie Sanders: Saudi Arabia is 'not an ally' and the U.S. Should 'rethink' its approach to Iran

September 21 2017, 12:28 p.m.

Excerpt:

“I consider Saudi Arabia to be an undemocratic country that has supported terrorism around the world, it has funded terrorism. … They are not an ally of the United States.” The Vermont senator accused the “incredibly anti-democratic” Saudis of “continuing to fund madrasas” and spreading “an extremely radical Wahhabi doctrine in many countries around the world.”

In a wide-ranging interview ahead of his set-piece speech on foreign policy in Fulton, Missouri, on Thursday morning, the independent senator said the United States is “complicit” in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and said he would be willing to consider voting to cut U.S. aid to the Jewish state. He also offered tentative support for a “face-to-face” meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un; described U.S. drone strikes against innocent civilians as one of the “root causes” of terrorism; and called for a re-examination of U.S. foreign policy “unilateralism.”

Asked if he agreed with ESPN’s Jemele Hill and The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates, who have both called Trump a “white supremacist,” Sanders said he preferred to use the word “racist” to describe the president.

“I think Donald Trump has strong racist tendencies,” he said. “And I say that not just because of his absurd and horrific remarks on Charlottesville, but because … when you lead the effort to try to de-legitimize … the first African-American president in our history, I think that’s racist. When you argue about the Central Park 5, I think that’s racist — so I think it’s fair to say he has strong racist tendencies.”

The Intercept will publish the full interview with Sanders on Friday.


U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, left, is interviewed by The Intercept’s Mehdi Hasan, right, in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 20, 2017. Sound engineer Rachael London, middle, records the interview.