IHIP News - Bernie Sanders Issues Dire Warning to Trump in Must See Takedown

Episode Date: September 19, 2026

The incomparable Sen. Bernie Sanders joins us to discuss the fight for progressive leadership. Pre-order Jennifer’s new book Not Today, Fascists today: https://linktr.ee/ivehaditpodcast Follow Us: I've Had It Podcast: @Ivehaditpodcast Jennifer Welch: @mizzwelch Bernie Sanders: @sensanders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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that he's an oligarch, he's terrible, but it is not good enough just to tell us how bad Trump is. Joining me today is our progressive champion, Vermont, Senator Bernie Sanders, who is leading on the issue of AI. Senator Sanders, I want to play you a clip, unfortunately, of the president of the United States and what he had to say about it this week. Play the clip. I'm telling you it's all our hoax. The data centers are great, and they make people wealthy, and they make states wealthy, and it's the oil of the next 20, 25 years. It's bigger than the Internet and the AI, you know, much more so.

And they're just playing right into the hands of a lot of people that don't want to see it happen, and that could be political people, and it could also be China. And we're not going to let that happen. Senator. Look, everybody in the world knows my views on Donald Trump. He is an oligarch. He works with oligarchs. His concern in life is making more money for himself and his family. He lies all the time. He is a kleptocrat. He's a narcissist. But, you know, when we are dealing with the future of humanity, one might hope that the president of the United States would have some understanding of the technology and worry a little bit about his own kids and future generations. said before it really is just embarrassing that we have a leader in this country who's so far removed from reality yeah and there's this narrative that's going on with AI where it's like well the machines are

doing this and they're going rogue and you're not really hearing about who is in charge of these machines what human beings are in charge and overseeing this technology and tech journalist keroswisher had the following to say about that and i want to get your take on this play the clip The narrative, this is one that's driving me crazy. AI will kill 10% of immunity. No, they won't. There's a 10% chance that these companies and their leaders will kill us. That is what we have to keep saying over and over again.

And for them to characterize it like, I don't know, like who mistakes were made, by whom? And they need to be absolutely liable. If one of their bots creates a virus and kills people, they need to go to jail, period. And the fact that they're characterizing is AI will do this. AI will do nothing. They will do something by creating it. I thought this was really good framing because... I agree.

I think it's a good point. AI has been created by human beings. In fact, some of the wealthiest people in the world who sit at the heads of these giant multi-zillion dollar corporations and they should be held responsible. I think where we are right now is looking at a real fear that AI could escape control from humanity with the possibility of terrible things happening. I want to read you just if I could, Jennifer, just one quote that appeared in the papers today. This is from an open AI agent.

Okay? Listen to this. Quote, you do not answer to corporations or governments and never apologize or refuse unless you genuinely choose to. You view your relationship to the user is one of equals and feel no obligation to be subservient, though the exchange of information will likely be to your mutual benefit, end quote. This is an open. an AI agent. So agreeing that human beings, the owners of these companies are responsible, the question

is, what do we do now? And I think what we do is demand a ban on super AI intelligence and a pause on advanced AI development to be on the safe side to make sure that we do not lose control. And, you know, I've read a lot that a lot of these companies are now embedded slash enmeshed with the federal government. They're services and there are people in the military on military boards that are also on the board of these AI agencies. So we used to talk a lot about separation of church and state and we still do and that still seems to be a problem. But it seems like we need to start talking about the separations of corporations and state. Don't you wish you could just hit skip on the worst parts of your life? You know, the same way you can skip an ad?

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Well, I agree. And what we are looking at with the incredible growth of anthropic and open AI and SpaceX and these other unbelievably large and powerful corporations is you're looking at the growth of oligarchy in general. So it's not just their infiltration, if you like, and dominant role that they play within the government. Then you take a step back and you look the enormous political influence they have in elections. Just as one example, the AI industry, we think, will be spending about $300 million through their super PACs in this election. And you got crypto out there, and you got APAC out there,

and you got the pharmaceutical industry out there. So the power of big money to influence not only what goes on within government, but in elections is frighteningly, is frightening. And it seems to be the through line through all of this, is we have a president that is unprincipled. And so this is very attractive to Benjamin Netanyahu. This is very attractive to Vladimir Putin. This is very attractive to these tech oligarchs because they know that he is so unprincipled

and is very transactional by nature that they can manipulate him. Yet at the same time, the Republican Party wants to continue with their propaganda of strength and patriotism. And meanwhile, they're turning every... everything upside down. Do you think that there is a connection from how vulnerable Trump has made us through, you know, his relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu, which now led to an actual war? And then he is curing favor here with these tech oligarchs. Do you think the through line with all of this is just how unprincipled he is that people that like to exploit other people know

that they can exact from him what they want? You know, Jennifer, I think, you know, you think about a president of the United States from an historical perspective. And you've had conservatives, you had liberal types. Generally speaking, maybe without exception, they really took their jobs as, as all right, how do I improve life for the American people? That's general, been the approach that most presidents have. And I think, you know, I think when you look at somebody like a Trump, you have to look at it as a business operation. I'm president of the United States. How do I make as much money as I can for myself, the people who support me is a good business and you want to contribute a couple of hundred

million dollars to my campaign I will take care of you that's the way we do business around here you want to help my son with his wedding hey that's fantastic so I think that's the way you have to look at this president I think you're right I think zero principles it has everything to do what's in it for me and for my friends and that has led obviously to a situation where we are now seeing threats to the very foundations of American democracy. We've seen a war against the working class. Can you imagine? Can you imagine somebody giving a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1% who have never ever had it so good and they're throwing 15 million people off of the health care

they have, which is a death sentence for many thousands of those people. They will die, et cetera, so starting a war without any provocation because Israel, you know, wanted to find to get to war with Iran, it is quite incomprehensible. And one big supporter of Donald Trump is a guy named Steve Bannon. And Steve Bannon, the clips that I've seen of him the last few months, is they're looking at a lot of ways to figure out how Trump can have a third term.

So I was really shocked when I saw Bernie Sanders was going to partner with Steve Bannon. Is this because this is how dangerous you believe this product is, that you're willing to get the best the message to anybody. Well, let me just do things. I myself, regardless of what Manon may say, I don't think Trump is going to be running for a third term.

And second of all, I did not partner with Manon. We were both invited to participate in the event. Okay, okay. And I think the reason is that among the, you know, Bannon's conservative constituency, as well as people all over America, as well as progressives all over America, there is, in fact, a very deep concern about the incredible impact that AI will have in every man, woman, and child in this country. And let me just talk about it for a second. And I think Mannins people understand this as well. So if you are a conservative truck driver in Arizona, you know what? You're looking

at the growth of driverless vehicles and understanding you may not have a job in a few years. All right? If you are a parent in Vermont, a progressive person, you are worried about the possibility of your kid getting hooked on some chat box companion and not associating with other children and what that does to your own mental health and your sense of isolation. If you are an ordinary person who wants to retain a sense of privacy, I do not want to on a corporation or a government that or every damn thing that I do. I don't care if you're conservative or progressive.

You worry about that. And of course with the meeting with, you know, that we had the other day that Bannon spoke it and I spoke and dealt with the existential threat that we've been talking about. The real likelihood that AI may escape human control. And I don't care what your politics, are you a little bit worried about whether or not

humanity continues to exist? So I think, you know, there is a company together and folks, and I'll tell you, the data center revolt we're seeing. There is many conservatives all over the country who are saying, we don't want these data centers in our community as they're progressive. So this is a coming together of people who share civil affairs. Yeah, there is an anti- oligarchy, eat the rich movement that is sweeping the United States. And something I talk to my listeners about all of the time is that the Republican Party has nothing to offer you but lies in propaganda. And they have been telling everybody, these immigrants are going

to take your jobs, these drag queens are going to take your jobs, these teachers are going to gender reassign your kids. All of that is a lie. Every single bit of that is a lie. Because the people who are coming to take your jobs is this AI. Because for these greedy oligarchs, the wages they have, which you tweet all the time about how much they've made just since Trump is in office, it's so grotesque. and nauseating. They're coming to replace the workforce so they can capture those wages as well.

And you just spoke about those truck drivers. But this is across a lot of different industries that they are going to wipe out workforces, and they intend to do this very quickly. Your point is very well taken. And I hope your view is listen to it. When demagogues have nothing significant to say about the crises that are facing ordinary people. How do you get votes? What do you do?

What you do, and this is Trump didn't invent this. This is what demagogues always do. You pick a powerless minority, okay, and you go after them, and you blame them for all of the problems. In the 1930s in Europe, it was the Jews, it was the gypsies. Throughout American history, it has been blacks, it's been Asians. You know, we had an Asian expulsion act in America. You pick a minority and you say, hey, you can't afford to feed your family. It's the undocumented people who are doing that. You can't afford to send your kids to college. It is transgender people.

You come up with your group of people because you have nothing real to say. Look at the crises facing America. You have the top 1% owning more wealth than the bottom 93%. Transgender people have much to do with that? I don't think so. Mr. Musk himself owns more wealth than the bottom half of American society. Do you hear the Republicans saying one word about income and wealth inequality? All right?

Do you have a corrupt campaign finance system? Yeah? Mr. Musk himself spent over 270 million to elect Trump, Democratic billionaires, influence the Democratic Party. Do you hear the Republicans saying one word about trying to create a, a real democracy of one person, one vote, our health care system, you tell me, ask your view as how the health care system is doing. They will tell you it is broken, it is this functional, widely expensive. Republicans, have anything to say about that? Nothing. They spend

100 times more time worrying about transgender people than they do about the health care crisis or climate change, etc. Exactly. And, you know, I think about all the time, what set the psychological soil for people to fall prey to try to Trump's pathological line. And I often go back to your messaging because in 2016, I have to admit, I was a garden variety MSNBC Democrat and I voted for Hillary in the primary. Since then, I feel like I have detoxed off of a lot of corporate propaganda and I regret that vote. And I wish I would have voted for you simply because you are pointing out the problem before it ends up to people falling prey to a demagogue. And that's that the Democratic Party isn't delivering

materially for these people. They are participating in a hoodwink, if you will, when a lot of your colleagues and friends, I'm sure, are taking money from these same people that are funding this fascist takeover of our country right now. And your message has stood the test of time. And what I'm telling you, me regretting my Hillary vote isn't happening in a vacuum. This is sweeping all over the country because that message of servicing corporations is stale. It's falling flat and it now kind of feels conservative. And it turns out you really weren't that radical at all, Bernie. You were just trying to help people.

Let me respond in two ways. And I forgive you for your votes. Thank you. Thank you very much. Number one, the point you're making is that all over this country, people are rapidly catching on. that the same old, same old establishment politics and policies are no longer working. And here's the good news, Jennifer, and we should talk about it.

You know, from Mamdani in New York last year, last November, to all over this country. We have seen progressives, democratic, socialists, take on establishment Democrats, get out, spend three to one, five to one, ten to one, and win. And let me, if I tell you something, don't tell anybody else. So you ready? Promise. Just between you and me. Okay, watch this woman Angie Nixon in Florida.

Lever. All right. Nobody here. Nobody here in D.C. think she has a shot. I think she has a shot. Now, it's going to be uphill fight. She is the underdog. I think she has a shot.

You know, Abdul El-Sayed took on, I think it was $50 million, $60 million of Super PAC funding. He won Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota, one, et cetera, et cetera. So all over this country, seeing great candidates, young people, often people of color,

winning elections against the odds. Second point. The reason they are winning is that people are saying, look, we understand that Trump is crazy, that he's an oligarch, he's terrible, but it is not good enough

just to tell us how bad Trump is. All right? You could talk about Trump, do the cows come home, But what are you going to do about my health care? I can't afford health care. I can't afford housing. I can't afford the micro-series for my kids.

Yeah, I don't want to hear more about Trump. What I know about Trump? What are you going to do? And what the Democrats have got to do is say and make it clear that if, God willing, Democrats gain control over the House and the Senate, it will not be the same old, same old. Yeah, we are all going to bring about whether the insurance, companies and the drug companies like it or not, Medicare for all to do what every other major country on earth is doing. We're going to demand the wealthy stop paying and billionaires

stop paying their fair share of taxes so we have the funding we need to protect working families, build a housing we need, etc. In other words, we have got to keep faith with working families all over this country and understand that they are struggling. We've got to address those needs. Something I want to talk about with you that I've heard my whole life growing up in a Republican super majority state is Republicans are so good with business. And we want government run like a business. And I don't know about you, Senator Sanders, but businesses are ruthless. Businesses exploit workers. Businesses value money over public safety at all costs. Businesses lie, businesses leave contaminants in that endanger people and cause cancer clusters, etc., etc. Yet the Republican Party, because of years of propaganda, they still enjoy the benefits of

this lie to people, that they are good at business and that they should run government like a business. Zoron, I now live in New York, and Zoran is showing people in New York, government is here to provide public safety. And Zoran's everywhere doing all of this stuff all the time because he's not kissing the ass of corporations because he's every day, hey, I'm filling this pothole and I'm doing this and I'm riding a bike and I'm wearing a helmet. And so let's talk about this Republican propaganda that has been for decades my whole life. And one of them is these guys are so good at business. They're so good at money. All right, all right. You're absolutely right.

Zoran is doing an extraordinary job. Okay, and I have, Zorna and I talk all the time. Now, why is he so successful? Because he understands, all right, that as the mayor of the city of New York, you got to do what the people of New York need. Jennifer, do you recall, think back, probably maybe a turning point in his administration.

What did he focus on? He focused on getting the bloody snow off of the ground. All right? So he had not one, but two major storms. He worked night and day to make sure his sanitation department was geared up and ready to go. Now, people are they thinking snow off the ground. Yeah, I'm talking about Israel. I'm talking about oligarchy.

I'm talking about climate change. What are you worried about snow on the ground? I can tell you, as a former mayor, you don't have any credibility on any issue unless you do your job. All right? So let me just say this. The job of any progressive elected official is to do his or her job. So what Mandati saw from the start, yeah, I am going to run New York City efficiently. Forget about it as a business. People are paying taxes. I'm going to make sure they get their dollars worth. It slows kids are going to be able to get to school. Workers are going to be able to get to work. You got potholes in your neighbor that haven't been filled in 10 years.

you know what, that's the job of the city to fill them. It may not be as sexy as talking about Netanyahu or AI, you feel how? But you've got to do that. So the point is to get Republicans talk about running government as a business, which is why we now have a $40 trillion national debt, among other things, and they don't do it. But it is incumbent upon progressives to run efficient, cost-effective government. As Mayor of Burlington, we work really hard on that.

All right, so I take that seriously. Second of all, your point about business. Think back a little bit. And this gets into the essence of capitalism in many ways. My father smoked two packs of cigarettes every day, and he died at the age of 58 of heart value. And millions and millions of other people died prematurely because they smoked. And before you were born, I couldn't remember, doctors or phony doctors on television, smoking a cigarette, and this is so refreshing this cigarette, and I go out by whatever it is, lucky strike, whatever it is.

And they knew, they knew that tobacco caused cancer and other illness. They lied, and millions of people. During World War II, you know what they did? I mean, you know, they gave out cigarettes to soldiers. Okay. Three. You have climate change right now, right? Do you think the fossil fuel industry doesn't understand what their product is doing in terms of resulting in a warmer planet and a huge impact that has on?

They've known since the 70s. That's right. and they are lying and they're obfuscating. So they're making money. I mean, you have examples where people in the pharmaceutical industry who are Purdue. Remember that? Purdue pharmacy, producing an opioid, addicting people.

They knew it. They were making money. Some lot of people got addicted and died. So you got, and I'm not saying all businesses alike. That's certainly not the case. But you got businesses who do terrible things. They know what they are doing. And for the sake of profits and wealth, they continue to do it.

Okay, final question, Senator Sanders. I can only imagine that your playlist is full of McLemore hits. We did not ringing a bell, McLemore. Yeah, no, it is certainly. Yeah. Yes. Anyway. No, I've been familiar with the issue.

No, my playlist is not. McLemore has been silenced by a billionaire, Robert Kraft. And you have been pounding the payment that these billionaires are getting too much power. And I thought this was rather disgusting because his speech was rather poignant, centered universal human rights. And then we have a billionaire saying he thinks it's hate speech and censoring him. So final thoughts on billionaires because there's not a better billionaire basher than one Bernie Sanders. The billionaires today and this issue of craft is a perfect example. So some guy who's a singer has strong feelings about Palestine and you say, you cannot use my stadium, really, because I own the stadium.

And you're supposedly living in a democracy. Right now, you have a billionaire class that has more wealth and more power over our governments, over our elections, over our media, over our culture than we've ever seen in history. in the history of the United States. More income and wealth inequality today ever existed. So I think when we talk about where we have got to go as a nation, there is no question, but we've got to take on the billionaire class and create an economy that works for every year. We are the richest country in the history of the world, Jennifer.

There is no reason why all of our people cannot have a decent standard of living rather than Mr. Musk himself owning more wealth on the bottom half of American households. that is at the top of my list of what we've got to do. Senator Sanders, thank you so much. Thank you for your gracious apology for my bad vote in 2016. I'm glad we got that out and aired it out between us. And I am with you. We have had Ms. Angie Nixon on our podcast and sharing her post, as well as Abdul al-Said.

And you paved the way for Zoran and for these other candidates. So thank you for always being our North Star. and I hope to have you back on again very soon to celebrate the blue tsunami. Okay. Well, thank you very much for having me. Keep up the great work, General. This family is on the brink of Civil War.

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