Nearly a decade after his first presidential run, Bernie Sanders is stepping back into his favorite role: billionaire basher.
In Iowa, the state that helped propel him to national attention, the Vermont senator recently scolded elites for fueling inequality and economic unrest. And while other Democrats have joined his message, none have the popularity that Sanders still wields at 83.
Sanders’s grip on the party signifies a unique moment in Democratic politics as many approach the second Trump administration with concern about their own standing. Despite a growing desire for new leaders, few progressives pack the same punch.
“More people [are] speaking up and it’s because they see Bernie doing it,” said Paco Fabian, the director of campaigns for Our Revolution, the group that formed out of Sanders’s 2016 bid. “The difference now is reality caught up to what he’s been warning us about.”
The Democratic socialist has indeed been shouting his concerns about wealth concentration for decades. He’s an equal critic of both parties’ use of corporate money to move their agendas, picking up enemies on both sides.
But as he calls out President Trump and Elon Musk, the president’s most influential lieutenant, he’s also guiding the future direction of the Democratic Party toward economic populism with some traction, an unthinkable feat way back when.