Sen. Bernie Sanders Friday said he does not think President Donald Trump is leading the United States into war against North Korea, but at the same time, he blasted the president for "hypocrisy" over his tax reform plan.
"This is a very complicated issue," the Vermont Independent senator and 2016 presidential candidate told the "CBS This Morning" program."North Korea is a dangerous isolated country that is working on nuclear and missile systems. The goal now is to bring everything together."
He called on China to threaten North Korea economically that "they're not going to survive if they continue the development of nuclear weapons."
"I think the president said he wants to do everything he can to avoid that conflict," Sanders said. "When you're talking 'major, major conflict,' you're talking nuclear war."
China receives about 80 percent of North Korea's exports, Sanders said, and it is in a position to "tighten the screws" on the country.
Sanders also discussed his concern over the "incredible tax breaks that President Trump and the leadership are proposing."
At a time of "massive income and wealth and equality," Sanders said, the idea of giving $353 billion in tax breaks to the nation's wealthiest while cutting education, healthcare, and the needs of children and seniors is "totally absurd."
"We've got to do everything we can to oppose that," Sanders said. "We can rally the American people to say when you had a president who campaigns on supposedly behalf of the working class of this country, that he's being totally hypocritical and dishonest. Giving tax breaks to billionaires is not standing up for the working class of this country."
Sanders called on the Democratic Party to "get its act together" and "expose Trump's hypocrisy."
The senator also criticized former President Barack Obama for accepting a $400,000 fee to speak during a Wall Street healthcare conference, echoing concerns voiced by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
"President Obama is a friend of mine," Sanders said. "I think he as a president represented our country with integrity and intelligence, but I think at a time when people are so frustrated with the power of Wall Street and the big money interests, I think it is unfortunate that President Obama is doing this."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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