Bernie Sanders responded Wednesday to Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s threat to leave the United States if Sanders becomes president: That’s all the more reason to vote for him, the Democratic presidential candidate told “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.
“Let me say something about Bill O’Reilly. Bill said — and this is a reason why people might want to vote for me — Bill said that if I won the presidency he would move to Ireland,” Sanders said. “Electing me president is a twofer. You get Sanders and you got, you know, Bill to go to Ireland.”
Sanders’ appearance on Colbert’s “Late Show” follows his win in the Democratic New Hampshire primary on Tuesday. He beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by 22 percentage points in the nation’s first primary election.
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Colbert asked if Sanders agreed with O’Reilly when the Fox News host said that Sanders and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump were the same person, but “with different haircuts.” Sanders responded that he thought the two were similar in that their voters are both angry — but that Trump’s supporters pander to fear.
“People have a right to be angry, but what we need to be is rational in figuring out how we address the problems and not simply scapegoating minorities,” Sanders said.
Colbert also congratulated Sanders on his win in New Hampshire, where he net 86 percent support among young people age 18 through 24 in the primary, adding that Sanders was like “puppy monkey baby” from the recent odd Mountain Dew Super Bowl commercial. Asked to explain his popularity among younger voters, Sanders said it was due to their idealism and anger with income inequality. “By definition young people are idealistic, and they look at a world with so many problems and they say, ‘why not?’ Why can’t all people in this country have healthcare? Why can’t we make colleges and universities tuition free? Why not?” Sanders said. Sanders added that young people are also noticing that they are more likely to have a lower standard of living, while wealth continues to accrue to the top 1 percent. Colbert poked fun at Sanders, asking how he expects the 1 percent to give up their influence with the government. The late night host said he knows personally it would be a tough fight — since he represents that 1 percent. Colbert then amended that, adding actually “the top 1 percent parks my car, I’m way higher than that.”
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