The Unfinished Business of Bernie Sanders

Last October, Jason Zengerle spent a few months with Bernie to figure out what’s next.

BY JASON ZENGERLE
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CAIT OPPERMANN

Excerpt:

“Look, Trump in a very bad way has redefined the nature of American politics. Every politician in the world stretches his or her point, you know, that’s nothing new. But now that we have a president who is a pathological liar, who can say anything he wants, who does say anything he wants, regardless of whether or not it has any bearing on the truth, that’s something new. All right, how do you deal with that? How do you deal with that? How do you deal with a president who is a racist, who is a sexist, who is a xenophobe, who is a homophobe, and who is a religious bigot?”

Sanders had begun his day in Nogales, along the Mexican border, where he’d met in a budget motel conference room with about a dozen or so immigration and environmental activists. Trump, and cable news, were talking nonstop about “the caravan”—the group of migrants slowly making their way across Central America toward the Mexico-U.S. border—and Sanders wanted these people’s advice about how to respond. One of the activists suggested that Democrats ask Trump what he’s done to help the Central American countries improve the conditions of their citizens so that people don’t feel compelled to leave.

“You’re talking rationally,” Sanders said. “But I want you to put yourself in Trump’s head and what he cares about, and his job is to simply win votes and pit one group of people against the other. You already gave me a rational answer. All right? But I need a political answer.” A local lawyer suggested talking about “the rule of law” and how Trump was waiving numerous environmental laws to crack down on immigration at the border. Sanders nodded and pointed to another activist, who proposed a “welcoming action” at the border where people showed up with food and clothing for immigrants. Then another activist argued that “we have to be not afraid to be rational” and said Democrats should point out just how few immigrants were coming across the southern border.

Sanders wasn’t satisfied. “I’m not sure that I’m getting through to you,” he barked. “This is all politics! It’s like me telling you there’s a guy with a machine gun out there, and if you don’t do this he’s going to bust in here and shoot you all up! It’s not true. All right? But I can create that fantasy. I can tell you that there’s somebody coming down with a machine gun, right? I can get you really scared! And you’re going to come to me: 'How do we protect ourselves?' That’s what it’s about! Right-wing extremism and demagoguery is not based on rationality. It is based on fear." Sanders told the group that their—and his—challenge was to “be really smart and figure out how we fight that demagoguery effectively.”



https://www.gq.com/story/bernie-sanders-unfinished-business