DNC chair calls Sanders's criticism 'straight up BS'

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Jaime Harrison on Thursday responded to Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) accusations that the party has abandoned the working class, contributing to its loss of the White House and Senate on Election Day. 

“This is straight up BS," Harrison wrote on X.

"Biden was the most-pro worker President of my life time- saved Union pensions, created millions of good paying jobs and even marched in a picket line and some of MVP’s plans would have fundamentally transformed the quality of life and closed the racial wealth gap for working people across this country," he wrote, referring to Vice President Harris.

“From the child tax credits, to 25k for a down payment for a house to Medicare covering the cost of senior health care in their homes. There are a lot of post election takes and this one ain’t a good one,” he added. 

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, issued a blistering statement on Wednesday asking whether “the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic party” will “learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign.” 

“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, citing economic inequality across the country, the high cost of health care and U.S. support for the war in Gaza.

With results still trickling in, Harris appears to have lost the popular vote by more than 4 million votes, and Democrats lost key Senate seats that flipped control of the upper chamber into GOP hands. 

A final call on the House is still up in the air, but DDHQ forecasts show Republicans with a strong chance of scoring a trifecta.

Sanders supported Harris along the campaign trail, and said recently that he still considers her “progressive” despite her tacking to the center during a campaign that lasted about three months, after President Biden quit the race.

But his post-election rebuke of the party has sparked controversy as many in the party point fingers and search for answers about what went wrong on Tuesday.