Sanders: Trump ‘believes in socialism for large corporations and the wealthy’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday will give an address to discuss the concepts of democratic socialism, casting his left-leaning ideology as a counter to President Trump and a necessary ideology to win back power for Democrats.

Details from a speech Sanders will give at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., provided to CNN show the Vermont senator casting Trump as a defender of the billionaire class and a status quo in the U.S. designed to protect the wealthy.

{mosads}”While President Trump and his fellow oligarchs attack us for our support of democratic socialism, they don’t really oppose all forms of socialism,” Sanders plans to say in the speech, according to CNN. “They may hate democratic socialism because it benefits working people, but they absolutely love corporate socialism that enriches Trump and other billionaires.”

“We must recognize that in the 21st century, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, economic rights are human rights,” the speech continues, according to CNN. “This is what I mean by democratic socialism.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Sanders added that his vision for Washington involved bringing Americans who feel left behind by politics and often do not participate in elections back to the public square to fight for economic justice.

“What the political revolution means to me, above and beyond democratic socialism, is getting millions of people who have given up on the political process, working people and young people, to stand up and fight for their rights. So those are the profound changes that we will be bringing about,” he said, according to the AP.

Sanders’s 2020 campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, added in an appearance on CNN that Sanders would take on criticism of socialism from Trump and even some Democrats head-on.

“This is a fight we are excited to have,” Shakir told CNN. “We are not going to duck this charge. We plan to take it on front and center. This has always been something that [Sanders’s] political opponents have used as a way to try and bring him down and despite those attacks, he has only gotten more popular.”

Sanders, who is consistently polling near the top of the crowded 2020 Democratic primary, has trailed only former Vice President Joe Biden in most national polls.

The RealClearPolitics average of national polls shows Sanders trailing Biden by 15 points.