Bernie Sanders launches withering attack on Donald Trump and his staff appointments

Feel the Bern...

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has hit out at Donald Trump and the appointments he has made to his staff following his surprise election win last week. Sanders promised to vigorously oppose any policy which reflected the controversial and hateful rhetoric employed by Donald Trump during his election campaign. “Over the years, we have made progress in becoming a less discriminatory and more tolerant society – and we are not going backward,” Sanders said during a speech at George Washington University. He called on President-elect Trump to reverse the appointment of Stephen Bannon to his position as Chief-Strategist in the White House. “The appointment by President-elect Trump of a racist individual like Mr. Bannon to a position of authority is totally unacceptable. In a democratic society, we can disagree all we want over issues, but racism and bigotry cannot be part of any public policy.” “The president of the United States should not have a racist at his side,” he said. “I call up on Mr Trump to rescind the appointment of Mr Bannon.” Stephen Bannon is the executive chairman of the far-right website Breitbart News and the CEO of Trump’s presidential campaign. His appointment has raised fears among liberal activists that the Trump adminsitration would encourage antisemitism, misogyny and racism. Bernie Sanders narrowly missed out on the Democratic nomination for Presidency to Hillary Clinton in a race which turned out to be far closer than many expected. Sanders was initially considered a long shot for the candidacy but managed to rally the support, particularly among millennials, and through a record-breaking number of small, individual contributions, ran Hillary Clinton close before ultimately falling short.