Far-left Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) had an awkward meltdown during an interview on ABC’s *This Week* with Jonathan Karl, trying to walk out the moment he was pressed on whether radical Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) could be the future of the Senate’s progressive wing.
Sanders, an aging socialist who has made a career out of railing against “the rich” while enjoying a cushy Senate seat, was in the middle of his so-called “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with AOC when Karl dared to ask a simple question: Does he see her as the future of the progressive movement?
That was all it took for Bernie to start squirming.
Karl started the question, “OK, you’re out there with AOC today. Do you see her as a future of the progressive–” but before he could even finish, Sanders cut him off and tried to deflect. “We have one of the untold stories,” he blurted out before launching into a rambling answer about the growth of the House Progressive Caucus.
Trying to avoid directly answering the question, Sanders bragged about his early days in Congress and praised Ocasio-Cortez as an “extraordinary” figure who “inspires young people all over the country.”
But when Karl pressed again, asking if he would like to see AOC join him in the Senate, Sanders’ patience snapped. Practically jumping out of his chair, he mumbled awkwardly, “I – right now we have, as I said, just a whole lot of people in the Congress. OK, Jonathan, thanks,” before making a clear move to leave.
Karl, refusing to let him off the hook so easily, tried to continue the conversation. “Wait, I got one more – I got one more. This is an important–”
That’s when Bernie really lost it. Snapping at Karl, he sneered, “No, you want to do nonsense. Do nonsense. I don’t want to talk about inside the beltway stuff.”
Karl, pointing out the obvious, told him, “I was just asking you about AOC because she was out there with you.”
Realizing his exit wasn’t going as smoothly as he hoped, Sanders reluctantly agreed to stay seated, muttering, “Well, you know, fine, but I don’t want to talk about this.”
Karl, unfazed, then pivoted to another topic: Bernie’s own political future. Would the 83-year-old socialist make another run for president?
The question clearly irritated Sanders, who gave an exhausted-sounding response. “No, right now I’m very proud that the people of the state of Vermont sent me back to the Senate with 63 percent of the vote.” He then added, “I am 83 years of age. So – and I’m tired.”
And with that, the trainwreck of an interview came to an end.
The real question here is: why was Sanders so desperate to dodge the AOC question? The truth is, the far-left is in chaos. Establishment Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are being attacked from within by radicals like AOC, who see him as too weak and compromising.
Ocasio-Cortez has reportedly been considering a primary challenge against Schumer in three years, and that battle would expose the deep fractures within the Democratic Party. If she runs, it would be a full-scale war between the old-school liberal elites and the new socialist wing of the party.
Sanders, who has spent decades playing both sides—cozying up to the radical left while still working within the Democrat machine—knows how dangerous that fight could be. And the last thing he wanted was to be forced into taking sides on national television.
In the end, Bernie’s embarrassing attempt to flee the interview only proved one thing: even the biggest names on the far-left know that their party is on the brink of a civil war, and they have no idea how to stop it.
