Bernie Sanders on Trump, 'This guy is a fraud'

Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Top Senator Bernie Sanders has called President Donald Trump a "fraud" for falling short of his commitments to American middle-class voters during campaigning, especially for not taking on Wall Street.

"I have to say this," Sanders said, adding that, "I don't mean to be disrespectful. This guy is a fraud."

Sanders cited Trump Cabinet and senior advisers' ties to Wall Street.

"This guy ran for president of the United States saying, 'I, Donald Trump, I'm going to take on Wall Street -- these guys are getting away with murder.' Then suddenly, he appoints all these billionaires," the 75-year-old Senator from Vermont told CNN yesterday.

70-year-old Trump, a real estate billionaire, selected Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs trader and hedge fund manager, as his treasury secretary nominee; Wilbur Ross, a billionaire former banker, to lead the Commerce Department; and Gary Cohn, a top Goldman Sachs executive, to lead his National Economic Council.

On Friday, Trump took steps to begin dismantling the Dodd-Frank financial regulations that were put into place in the aftermath of the economic crash of 2008.

Sanders said Trump's Cabinet appointments and advisers directly contradict his pledge to re-institute the Glass- Steagall Act, a regulation that separated commercial and investment banks, which was repealed under President Bill Clinton.

Trump signed an executive order last Friday that sets the stage for rewriting US financial regulation in an effort to encourage more lending to American businesses.

"He is a good showman, I will give you that -- he is a good TV guy," Sanders said of Trump. "But I think he is going to sell out the middle class, the working class, of this country."

"It is hard not to laugh to see President Trump alongside these Wall Street guys," Sanders, who had unsuccessfully contested against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US Presidential race, said.

Sanders also urged Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to stand up to Trump's recent barrage of executive orders.

"I would hope that people like Senator McConnell and other Republicans have the courage to stand up to Trump's movement toward authoritarianism," Sanders said.

"We're a democracy, not a one-man show. We are not another Trump enterprise. It's called the United States of America. We're not a business run by Trump," Sanders added.