“I voted against the war in Iraq. I had the same information as Hillary Clinton did, but I understood the enormous destabilization that would take place.” –Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders was interviewed by Diane Rehm on Wednesday. The full audio and transcript is available here. Early in the interview Rehm asked Sanders how he differs from Hillary Clinton. Here is his response:
REHM And where do you think you differ most from frontrunner Hillary Clinton?
SANDERS I was the first member of Congress to take people over the Canadian border to get lower cost prescription drugs and have taken on the pharmaceutical industry. That is my record and the voters will have to decide whether, in fact, Hillary Clinton’s record is one in which she has prepared to stand up to powerful special interests. An example, I happen to believe that our series of trade policies, from NAFTA, CAFTA to permanent normal trade relations with China have been a disaster, resulted in the loss of millions of decent paying jobs as corporations in this country shut down and moved to low wage countries.
SANDERS I am firmly opposed to the TTP, helping to lead the effort against it. Hillary Clinton has not yet voiced her opinion on it. I voted against the war in Iraq. I had the same information as Hillary Clinton did, but I understood the enormous destabilization that would take place. In fact, if you go to YouTube and look at a speech that I gave in opposition to that war, sadly enough, much of what I said turned out to be true. I am one of the leaders in the Congress in fighting to transform our energy system because I believe that climate change is the great planetary crisis that we face.
SANDERS I believe in what the scientists are telling us. I lead the effort against the Keystone Pipeline. Hillary Clinton has not yet voiced an opinion on that. I voted against the USA Patriot Act because while I understand that terrorism is serious and a real threat, I believe that we can protect the American people without undermining our constitutional rights or our privacy rights.
REHM And, of course, Hillary Clinton is doing a lot more listening than talking these days. Why do you think that is?
SANDERS Well, it’s, obviously good to listen and I’ve been out on the campaign trail and listening to many, many thousands of people who’ve come out to our meetings. But at the end of the day, you have to have an opinion on the basic issues facing America. We, as a nation, have got to address the reality that for 40 years, the great middle class of this country is disappearing and that today almost all new income and new wealth is going to the top 1 percent…
Sanders had a lot more to say about his views during the interview. The interview also received media coverage due to Diane Rehm asking a question based upon false rumors that Sanders has duel citizenship with Israel. This was corrected during the interview and on the her web site:
An Apology From Diane
On today’s show, I made a mistake. Rather than asking Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders whether he had dual U.S./Israeli citizenship, as I had read in a comment on Facebook, I stated it as fact.
He corrected me, saying he did not know where the question came from. I apologized immediately.
I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement. I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest.
— Diane
In contrast to Sanders, Hillary Clinton has refused to grant media interviews and has rarely responded to questions from the press since announcing her candidacy.
Originally posted at Liberal Values