Bernie Sanders at CNN Town Hall: My purpose is to promote the Democratic Party

PHOTO: Bernie Sanders | Ethan Miller, Getty Images

On Monday night, Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders appeared on an episode of CNN’s Town Hall, a series of interviews of 2020 presidential contenders. The hour-long segment was moderated by Wolf Blitzer and consisted of questions for Sanders from live audience members, pre-selected by the network.

Sanders’ performance was more or less what one would expect. He denounced the fossil fuel, oil and gas industries, big Pharma and the billionaire class, and appealed to workers and youth with calls for healthcare, free university education and vows to make “an economy that works for everyone.”

It is the type of rhetoric that has attracted a base of support for Sanders among young people and workers, who are driven by concern over social inequality. In the first 24 hours his campaign, Sanders raised $6 million from 250,000 individual donors, far more than other announced Democratic Party candidates.

{*** CONTINUED ***}