Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday ripped as "barbaric" the plan by Senate Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare, saying "this is what oligarchy is all about."
"Nobody denies that the Affordable Care Act has problems," the Vermont independent told Anderson Cooper on CNN. "Nobody denies that premiums are too high, that the deductibles and co-payments are too high.
"Short term, we have to improve the Affordable Care Act," Sanders said, adding you do not do that "by throwing 23 million people off of insurance, including children."
Sanders, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton, said that would work against the American Health Care Act by lobbying Republicans to "not vote for this barbaric piece of legislation that would hurt so many people in this country."
The legislation also goes against many of President Donald Trump's campaign promises, Sanders said.
"Most Americans now understand what he said on the campaign trail has nothing to do with the proposals that he's bringing forthright now," the senator said.
"He campaigned as a champion of the working class. This is the most anti-working class legislation that I've ever seen."
Turning to Democratic losses in two special House races Tuesday, Sanders said, while the districts in South Carolina and Georgia were heavily Republican, "Democrats did much better than was the case in the last election.
"Most objective observers feel is Democrats actually have the momentum. Maybe not enough momentum right now to win in heavy Republican districts."
He added the party "has to do a lot of internal soul-searching" and said the Democrats "need a progressive agenda.
"The Democratic brand is pretty bad," Sanders said. "The Trump brand is also pretty bad, as is the Republican brand.
"That's why so many people are giving up on politics."
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