Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) delivered a sharp critique of former Vice President Kamala Harris and her failed 2024 presidential bid, saying she relied too heavily on billionaire donors who discouraged her from championing working-class Americans.
Speaking with CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union Sunday, Sanders was asked to elaborate on remarks he made during a rally in West Virginia. “One of the reasons… Kamala Harris lost this election is she had too many billionaires telling her not to speak up for the working-class of this country,” he told the crowd.
“How do you run for president and not develop a strong agenda which speaks to the economic crisis facing working families?”@SenSanders says that one reason Kamala Harris lost in 2024 was because “she had too many billionaires telling her not to speak up for the working class.” pic.twitter.com/QRnwxO8znQ
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) August 10, 2025
Sanders: Harris Avoided Key Working-Class Issues
Sanders told Bash that while Harris was a “friend,” her campaign team was “heavily influenced by very wealthy people.”
“How do you run for president and not develop a strong agenda which speaks to the economic crises facing working families?” Sanders asked, citing record income inequality, a broken healthcare system, and the reality that 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
Bash noted Harris spoke about affordability, but Sanders dismissed it as vague. “The clue to Democratic victories is to… stand unequivocally with the working class… You need an agenda that speaks to the needs of working people.”
Sanders Previously Defended Harris
Sanders’ post-election criticism contrasts with comments he made just two months before Election Day. At the time, he said Harris was being “pragmatic” by downplaying her progressive agenda — what some critics described as hiding her Marxist leanings — in an attempt to win.
“I think she is trying to be pragmatic and do what she thinks is right in order to win the election,” Sanders said in September 2024.
