image courtesy of AP
Bernie Sanders’ powerful voice engulfed the gothic confines of Downtown L.A.’s Ace Hotel’s Theatre on Sunday evening, keeping in the spirit of the messages he delivered during his own presidential campaign.
As part of the Los Angeles Times Ideas Exchange series, Sanders spoke to an energetic Los Angeles audience about his vision for the future of the United States, advising on the ways Americans can help reinvent the Democratic Party after the 2016 election. The event was also part of his book tour, for his new book “Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In,” of which people had the opportunity to purchase at the event.
“We are looking at a totally new political world,” Sanders told a boisterous, diverse audience of Angelenos. “If we play by the old rules, we will lose and they will win. Our job is not to play by the old rules.”
Sanders spoke on many issues that were foundational to his campaign platform, ranging from income and wealth inequality and corporate greed, to fighting climate change, and the growing problem of student debt.
Unsurprisingly, much of Sanders’ speech revolved around the newly implemented Trump administration, and Sanders wasn’t afraid to take direct jabs at President Trump. Sanders brought up an instance in which Trump claimed he was an eye-witness to Muslims cheering on the Sept. 11, 2011 terrorist attacks, and that millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally voted in November.
With his wife Jane in the audience, Sanders prefaced a bold statement that he acknowledges she doesn’t enjoy him vocalizing: “I say this with no pleasure, my wife dislikes me saying this, but the truth is that Trump is a pathological liar,” he said
The speech wasn’t entirely about the nation’s problems, though. “I’m not trying to depress you,” Sanders joked at one moment during his talk. But he said the solution to defeating “Trumpism,”as he calls it, is not to be in despair or to throw up hands, but instead to be vocal, and active in our community, speaking to community leaders and banding together in large groups.