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Senator Bernie Sanders has broken his silence over President Donald Trump’s teasing that he will seek a third term in the Oval Office in 2028.
The 83-year-old Vermont senator was asked if he, like many Republicans, laughs off the suggestion of a third term.
“No, I don’t. The idea of a third term? Why not? They don’t believe in the rule of law. They don’t believe in the Constitution. So, yeah, I would take that seriously,” he told CBS News.
Last week, Trump told NBC News in an interview that he was considering “methods” to seek a third term.
Later, on Air Force One from Florida to Washington, he elaborated to reporters that “I have had more people ask me to have a third term, which in a way is a fourth term because the other election, the 2020 election, was totally rigged.” Trump lost that election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Still, Trump added: “I don’t want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, we’ve got a long time to go.”
In his CBS interview, Sanders went on to “thank” Trump and DOGE leader Elon Musk for creating “more urgency” in support of anti-oligarchy sentiment.
“I think I’m seeing fear, and I’m seeing anger. Sixty percent of our people are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Media doesn’t talk about it. We don’t talk about it enough here in Congress,” Sanders told Robert Costa.
Sanders is not running for president again, but the stooped and silver-haired democratic socialist has emerged as a leader of the resistance to Trump’s second presidency. In tearing into Trump’s seizure of power and warning about the consequences of firing tens of thousands of government workers, Sanders is bucking the wishes of those who want Democrats to focus on the price of eggs or “roll over and play dead.”
For now, at least, Sanders stands alone as the only elected progressive willing to mount a national campaign to harness the fear and anger of the sprawling anti-Trump movement.
Since losing the White House, Democrats across Washington have struggled to coalesce behind a consistent message or messenger to stop Trump’s aggressive moves to slash the government workforce, weaken federal oversight, and empower Musk to execute his vision.
There has been no centralized movement to organize the anti-Trump resistance.
“You look around — who else is doing it? No one,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said of Sanders’ efforts. “My hope is that the dam will break in terms of Democrats going on the offense … We need to take the argument directly to the people.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
