Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Bernie Was Just Asked If Dems Should Work Harder to Win Republican Support and He Was Not Having It

Bernie Was Just Asked If Dems Should Work Harder to Win Republican Support and He Was Not Having It
ABC News

After winning the 2020 presidential election and securing two crucial Senate seats from Georgia, Democrats now control the Executive Branch along with both the House of Representatives and the Senate, ending the years-long Republican stranglehold of Congress and the White House.

Republicans' Senate majority was marked by then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) unwillingness to bring bills passed by the Democratic House to the Senate floor, as well as his refusal to consider a Supreme Court Justice nominee from former President Barack Obama in 2016, claiming it was too close to the 2016 election to fill a Supreme Court seat.


McConnell infamously reversed this position by confirming former President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee—now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett—to the Court, even as Americans were casting their votes in the 2020 election that saw Trump defeated.

McConnell's near-unwavering refusal to work with Democrats in the Senate defined his tenure as Majority Leader and secured him the nickname of "Grim Reaper."

With the Senate split evenly and Vice President Kamala Harris tasked with breaking any tied votes, Democrats have a narrow but functional majority, prompting many of their constituents to urge them to take advantage of this by passing bold legislation, including an ambitious new wave of pandemic relief.

Meanwhile, Republicans have cited President Joe Biden's pledge for unity to pressure Democrats into treading lightly, especially when it comes to the long-awaited pandemic relief bill.

Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) is not having any of it.

Sanders was asked by ABC News' Martha Raddatz about Democrats' willingness to work with Republicans and made clear that appealing to Republican lawmakers' better natures wouldn't be his first priority.

Watch below.

"The issue is not bipartisanship or not," Sanders said. "The issue is are we gonna address the incredible set of crises and the pain and the anxiety which is in this country. You know what? I don't care what anybody says."

He continued:

"So the question is not bipartisanship, the question is addressing the unprecedented crises that we face right now. If Republicans want to work with us, if they have better ideas on how to address those crises, that's great. But to be honest with you, I have not yet heard that."

Democrats are currently pushing for a $1.9 trillion relief package that includes $1400 checks to most American adults, along with additional aid to a range of cities and states battling the pandemic that's killed over 400 thousand Americans.

Republicans have alternatively supported a less expensive package with lesser, more targeted direct relief and virtually no state and local aid.

People largely sided with Senator Sanders in his evaluation.






For many, the Republican proposal comes up too short.



Democrats were hoping to get the support of 10 Republican Senators for a filibuster-proof majority, but may have to bypass the filibuster for a simple majority vote along party lines through a process ironically called "reconciliation." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said this is a step he's willing to take.

More from People

Alex Cooper singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'
@MBDChicago/Twitter (X)

'Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Gets Brutally Booed At Wrigley Field After Painfully Off-Key Singing

If there's one thing that all baseball fans can come together about, it's the importance of their traditions—and songs.

In the seventh inning at Wrigley Field during a match between the Cubs and the Cardinals, popular Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper was invited to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and brought two backup dancers with her.

Keep ReadingShow less
Linda Yaccarino
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

X CEO Resigns Day After AI Chatbot Grok Praised Hitler In Alarming Series Of Antisemitic Tweets

Linda Yaccarino—the former NBC Universal executive who later took the reins at X—stepped down as CEO of billionaire Elon Musk's platform after two years on the job just a day after Grok, the platform's AI chatbot, went on antisemitic rants and openly praised Adolf Hitler.

Grok issued deeply antisemitic responses on Tuesday following a reported software update that encouraged the bot to embrace what developers described as the “politically incorrect.” Taking that directive to heart, Grok responded with a series of disturbing posts that included praise for Hitler and even a statement expressing its aspiration to become a “digital version” of the Nazi leader.

Keep ReadingShow less
Black and white photo of a falling spider.
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

People Divulge Their 'Rare' Phobias That People Refuse To Believe

I am a SEVERE claustrophobic.

I have struggled with this issue for decades.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

'The Onion' Rips Ted Cruz With Brutal Headline After Yet Another Vacation During Texas Disaster

The satirical news site The Onion had social media users cackling with its brutal headline mocking Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz for once again being out of the country when Texas was hit by another deadly natural disaster.

Cruz faced considerable national backlash after he flew to Cancún while millions of people went without food and water as a result of the February 2021 Texas power disaster. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly; some estimates suggested as many as 702 people were killed as a result of the crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk and Grimes
Kevin Tachman/Getty Images for Vogue

Elon Musk's Ex Grimes Calls X Platform A 'Poison' And 'Theatre' After Social Media Hiatus

Claire Boucher—who performs and creates under her stage name Grimes, but prefers her birth name or just "C" offstage—recently returned to her musical persona's social media accounts after taking a hiatus for her own well-being.

Once extremely active, she noted on X in April:

Keep ReadingShow less