Matt Taibbi: A Conversation with the Vermont Senator ...

By MATT TAIBBI

Excerpt:

As we did after Election Day in 2016, Rolling Stone caught up with Sanders to ask for his take on the midterms, the Democrats’ likely strategy in the House, the dismissal of his former Senate colleague Jeff Sessions and other key issues.

Sanders, a possible 2020 presidential candidate, called Tuesday’s victories “a significant step forward in terms of the revitalization of American democracy.” But he also had some customarily sharp-edged takes about the conventional wisdom already forming about the results.

As he did two years ago, Sanders warned against complacency and insisted it would be a “very, very serious mistake” if Democrats did not at least try to pass progressive legislation, so as to call Trump’s populist bluff. Failure to do so, he implied, would mean ceding vital territory to Trump, a man with “no core beliefs.”

First impressions from Election Night night? Most encouraging result, least encouraging?
My impression is that, given the fact that Trump fired [Attorney General Jeff] Sessions today in order to remove media coverage from [Tuesday] night tells me we had a pretty good night. I think [Tuesday] night was a significant rejection of Trumpism. Not only did the Democrats regain control of the House, which was the most important development, Democrats won seven governors’ races. Democrats won 300 races at the state legislative and in the four states that Trump won in order to get his Electoral College majority — Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — all four of those Senate Democratic candidates won. And three out of the four [Democratic] candidates for governor won. As someone who worked very hard for Andrew Gillum, that was a major disappointment. He ran a brilliant campaign, dealing with a lot of things, including racism. We’ll see what happens in Georgia, whether or not they’re going to count all the votes there. But if Abrams loses, that [will be] a painful loss.

Do you have any plans to oppose what happened in Georgia?
I will add my voice and do what I can! Bottom line there: We are aware of the absurdity of this guy Kemp, who is the Secretary of State, counting the votes. [He] happens to be her opponent. The demand has got to be that every bloody vote has got to be counted. I will add my voice and do everything I can to make sure that happens.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/taibbi-bernie-sanders-interview-753484/