--- title: Democrats Got Clobbered. AOC and Sanders Think They Know Why description: Did Trump win because Democrats abandoned the working class? Some aren't buying that theory coming from Sanders and AOC. canonical: https://time.com/7173985/trump-bernie-sanders-aoc-election/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-07T21:59:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:16.063Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democrats Got Clobbered. AOC and Sanders Think They Know Why og:description: Did Trump win because Democrats abandoned the working class? Some aren't buying that theory coming from Sanders and AOC. og:url: https://time.com/7173985/trump-bernie-sanders-aoc-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b1d32134f360fef/698a9c01cabb1df9e7e5b420/GettyImages-2102262873.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Rep. Ocasio-Cortez And Sen. Sanders Reintroduce The Green New Deal For Public Housing Act og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democrats Got Clobbered. AOC and Sanders Think They Know Why twitter:description: Did Trump win because Democrats abandoned the working class? Some aren't buying that theory coming from Sanders and AOC. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b1d32134f360fef/698a9c01cabb1df9e7e5b420/GettyImages-2102262873.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Democrats Got Clobbered. Bernie Sanders and AOC Think They Know Why > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: After Sweeping Defeat, Harris Concedes to Trump [Watch (HLS stream): After Sweeping Defeat, Harris Concedes to Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/g55AWYCA.m3u8) (6:17)  _Published 2024-11-06. Vice President Kamala Harris formally conceded in a speech Wednesday afternoon at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she urged her followers to continue fighting for democracy. Former President Donald Trump will be serving a second term after he was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election early Wednesday by the Associated Press._  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Nov 7, 2024 9:59 PM UTC  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (L), greets Sen. Bernie Sanders before they spoke at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on March 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (L), greets Sen. Bernie Sanders before they spoke at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on March 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Nov 7, 2024 9:59 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ Among Democrats, there’s a pretty universal understanding that the next two years are shaping up to be a joyless slog, one in which Donald Trump again sets the national agenda, the Senate serves as a willing—but not universally compliant—partner, and the still-for-grabs House falling into a too-close-for-anything-big stasis. To put it mildly, it’s a dark [moment](https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/how-kamala-harris-lost-presidential-election-88e594e8) for Democrats who had as recently as 10 days ago [thought](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/05/kamala-harris-historic-campaign-finish-anxiety-optimism/) they might control the trifecta of power in Washington and one in which [answers](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/06/democrats-blame-biden-trump-win-00188092) are [hard](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/us/politics/democrats-kamala-harris.html) to be had. But, as he is prone to do at the most unwelcome of moments, Sen. Bernie Sanders lobbed his own two cents over the wall at the Democrats and it did not detonate in any welcome way. Sanders, who [twice](https://time.com/bernie-sanders-2016-campaign/?iid=toc%5F052616) sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, caucuses with Democrats but insists on staying a nominal progressive independent. From that vantage, he is a reliable stand-in for the United States’ left flank, one who is all too happy to criticize the party with which he regularly works with but refuses to officially join. “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sanders [said](https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-rips-democrats-harris-election-loss-1981742) in a statement [released](https://www.newstatesman.com/us-election-2024/2024/11/bernie-sanders-crashes-kamala-harriss-stubborn-farewell-speech) on Wednesday just before Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her concession speech. “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.” Sanders’ analysis is not novel or inaccurate. Harris fared pretty poorly with the Democratic Party’s base, losing ground in just about every objective category that mattered. What had been seen as a nail-biter of a race turned into a [blowout](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/harris-concedes-presidential-race-trump-emotional-crowd-rcna176106) in the final tally, and Democrats are [turning](https://variety.com/2024/politics/news/kamala-harris-concession-speech-howard-university-1236202963/) inward with plenty of [recriminations](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/11/07/10-democratic-thinkers-on-what-the-party-needs-right-now-00187993) about the whos and hows at fault. But the Sanders jab seemed particularly unhelpful coming from someone who has used his own brand to force Democratic nominees up and down the ballot to the left, often helping progressive candidates win primaries out of step with the districts they are trying to win in. It’s a leftward shift of the party, for sure, but it’s likely not one that has served the Democrats’ mission of adding to its numbers in office. Sanders, never one to mistake his own push for his brand of progressive ideas for Democratic party-building, seems to give zero hoots. “Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? … Probably not,” Sanders said. Then, perhaps menacingly, the 83-year-old democratic socialist [suggested](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-response-presidential-election/story?id=115582079) he would have his own [thoughts](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/11/06/2024-election-results-live-coverage-updates-analysis/bernie-sanders-election-response-00187980) on what happens next: “In the coming weeks and months those of us concerned about grassroots democracy and economic justice need to have some very serious political discussions. Stay tuned.” On his own, Sanders would be easy to write-off. But he seldom stands solo. He has inspired a legion of supporters loyal to him, and he made progressive ideas less fringe and cringe than when he offered himself up as socialist alternative to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race. So threatened were Democrats in 2020 of a Sanders nomination, the primaries all but ended inside 48 hours when the party coalesced with shocking speed behind Joe Biden. And it’s why the grimace of gnashing over Sanders threatened to become a gush of self-introspection when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—a progressive paragon—picked up some of the rubble and [amplified](https://dailycaller.com/2024/11/07/misogyny-aoc-dems-blame-harris-loss/) it in her own framing. Although Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez hit the trail in the end for Harris, it was [clear](https://captimes.com/opinion/john-nichols/opinion-bernie-aoc-back-harris-and-walz/article%5Fd14d5ae0-987b-11ef-aeed-f35677c4ef9e.html) they had their own lens on this puzzle. "Our main project is to unite the working class in this country against a fascist agenda. Period. We have had an enormous setback in this election because the fascist won a lot of working-class support, which has happened before in history,” AOC said on a live-stream later Wednesday evening. “I think what is important is that we have to be able to hold that analysis and have these discussions without turning on each other." An honest [discussion](https://time.com/4951191/divided-democratic-party-debates-its-future/) about the Democrats’ future? Without turning on each other? That seems absolutely fanciful given the Establishment’s fresh wounds, deep animus toward the likes of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, and a shaky alliance with members of [The Squad](https://time.com/5634769/future-of-the-democratic-party/). (In a particularly unhelpful move, Squad member Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American who represents the Muslim- and Arab-rich city of Dearborn, [declined](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/11/01/2024-elections-live-coverage-updates-analysis/rashida-tlaib-kamala-harris-skips-endorsement-00186901) to endorse Harris—in part over the ongoing war in Gaza.) Ocasio-Cortez, who again called for a national $15 minimum wage and proposals for universal health care during her hour-long, direct-to-smartphone chat with supporters on Wednesday, kept the pressure on her party for not doing more to connect with the base, even as others in the party argue that their actual problem was too much deference to that side of the tent. “At the end of the day, the ultimate problem is our ability to clearly and forthrightly advocate for an agenda that clearly champions the working class,” she [said](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-trump-election-2024%5Fn%5F672c32cbe4b01cfbdad3ba54). For their part, Establishment Democrats were having none of it and immediately pushed back on Sanders—but not explicitly against AOC, who remains a potent force and potentially national nominee. “This is straight up BS. … There are a lot of post-election takes and this one ain’t a good one,” [wrote](https://twitter.com/harrisonjaime/status/1854537146830348292) Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison on Sanders’ punditry, pointing out that Biden saved union pensions and became the first sitting President to join a picket line. Adding a strong defense of Harris, Harrison also noted the nominee ran on expanding Medicare to cover home care for seniors, creating a $25,000 down-payment assistance program to increase home ownership, and reviving a child tax credit that would ease lower- and middle-class families. The public acrimony reveals a party that’s still shaky so close to an Election Day that left many Democrats having deja vu to 2016, when they also thought a female nominee could handily defeat Trump. Once again, they were left sulking and sincerely confused as to what went wrong. There are plenty of answers—TIME’s Charlotte Alter, Brian Bennett, and I try to unpack them [here](https://time.com/7173550/how-kamala-harris-lost/)—but no single one emerges as an actual antidote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, writing for TIME 100 Voices, has her thoughts [here](https://time.com/collection/time100-voices/7173801/elizabeth-warren-democrats-plan-after-2024-election/). Sanders may be onto something, even if his remedy is one unlikely to win much of a boost from the centrists in the Democratic Party. AOC might have an easier framework to build upon. But there are probable multiple factors that led to a Harris wipeout against Trump, and party leaders are more inclined to listen to folks who seem like team players, not gloats, and certainly not those who goad the party to a place where it cannot win. It’s why there are _plenty_ of critics of what just happened in the Democratic Party, but those who want futures are putting the ideas on the page for policy memos to pull from the drawer when leaders are ready for them and ask. Tossing them into the ether while Harris staffers still haven’t packed up a single office is definitely not how to get those notions to the players who still have a chokehold over the party. These ideas, from those seen as myopic adherents to the progressive left at the cost of wooing the middle-ground majority, are only annoying party insiders who are trying to figure out why so many persuadable voters sat out this race, tuned it out, or defected to Trump because they were frustrated with the chase of a left-racing agenda. Like so much in politics, timing is everything. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ## Transcript My heart is full today, full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country and full of resolve. The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But hear me when I say. Hear me when I say. The light of America's promise will always burn bright. As long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting. Now I know folks are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now. I get it. But we must accept the results of this election. Earlier today, I spoke with President Elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition, and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power. A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny, and anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it. At the same time, in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party, but to the Constitution of the United States. And loyalty to our conscience and to our God. My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations, where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do. And we will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts, and in the public square. And we will also wage it in quieter ways in how we live our lives, by treating one another with kindness and respect, by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor, by always using our strength to lift people up to the young people who are watching. It is I love it. To the young people who are watching, it is okay to feel sad and disappointed. But please know it's gonna be okay. On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight, we win. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean we won't win. That doesn't mean we won't win. The important thing is don't ever give up. Don't ever give up. Don't ever stop trying to make the world a better place. You have power. You have power. And don't you ever listen. When anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before. You have the capacity to do extraordinary good in the world. And so to everyone who is watching, do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves. I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time. But for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case. But here's the thing, America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars. The light the light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service. Eate you. And may that work guide us even in the face of setbacks toward the extraordinary promise of the United States of America. I thank you all. My God bless you and may God bless the United States of America. 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