Sanders takes a look at 'Trump Country'

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Sometimes had the impression on Monday that he had already stood against President Trump in a general election, instead of the Democrats with whom he had to fight first. during the 2020 primary.

During a televised assembly broadcast on CNN, Sanders criticized the fact that Trump had abandoned the Americans, promised to campaign in the "Trump Country" and even hailed a Pennsylvania county that had voted for Trump after to have supported Barack Obama twice.

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"Trump told the workers that he was going to be on their side. It's not on their side, "Sanders said. "At the end of this campaign, I suspect that a number of people who voted for Donald Trump will understand that it's not their friend and that the agenda we have, who is ready to face the class of billionaires, is the one that they will support. "

Sanders said he thought he could defeat Trump in Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, four decisive states that played a key role in the president's victory in 2016. He mentioned a locomotive company located in Erie, Pennsylvania, which now required mandatory overtime and lower pay. wages after the merger with another company, he said, while distributing lavish bonuses to high-ranking officials.

"This is happening across the country: big companies have cut back on health care and benefits for their workers, while CEOs earn 300 times more than their workers," he said. "You go to Trump Country and ask people there if they think it makes sense."

Sanders' message may reflect his position in the race: among the Democratic candidates who run, he is at the top of the polls. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has not yet announced whether he will campaign for the presidency, is the only candidate ahead of Sanders in most investigations.

It could also be a strategy to conquer the many primary voters who are most concerned about the overthrow of Trump: a majority of independent Democrats and Democrats said they appreciate the ability to defeat Trump on political ideology , according to a recent survey of the University of Monmouth.

Sanders was asked about CNN about three issues that his 2016 campaign would face: alleged sexual harassment by his staff, the mistrust of some African-American voters, and questions about his tax returns.

Sanders, who said he was "very upset" to learn the charges of sexual misconduct, promised that his operation for 2020 would have strong protocols to prevent employees from being abused, would require a significant training of these and would give victims the opportunity to speak third outside the campaign.

The Vermont senator said Monday that he had seduced young voters of color in 2016 and that he "was doing very well with the African-American community" in current polls. But he acknowledged that "maybe I have not been as strong on the issue of racial disparities" as I should be. "

"The gap in wealth between a white family and a black family is 10 to 1," he said. "Black kids leave university more deeply in debt than white kids."

Asked about the repairs, that other presidential candidates, such as Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) And Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), As well as former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julián Castro, have declared their support, Sanders said that he supports anti-poverty legislation broadening the "10/20/30" plan. This plan is designed to ensure that more federal funds are directed to communities where the poverty rate is still high.

He said the significance of the other candidates for 2020 was unclear when they said they were being repaired.

"What does it mean, what do they mean, I'm not sure anyone is very clear," he said, adding, "I think we need to do everything in our power to remedy the great disparity that exists in this country. "

Sanders also talked about his well-known program: Medicare-for-All, free tuition, a minimum wage of $ 15, as well as an anti-interventionist foreign policy. And he said that "the message of our campaign is that we need to bring our people together, black and white and Latino, to bring it together around an agenda that creates a government that works for all of us."

Sanders also promised Monday to publish 10 years of tax returns during his campaign for the presidency, but he did not say when he would make them public.

"Our tax returns will bother you to death," Sanders said, adding that they would be published "soon."

In the 2016 presidential election, Sanders released his 2014 tax returns. They showed that he had an adjusted gross income of $ 205,271 and that he was paying $ 27,653 in federal taxes. .

Sanders was criticized at the time for not having published more of his tax returns. His plan for his tax returns was originally published by the National Journal.