Citing the 401k as a proxy for the nation’s overall economic health is gaining traction.
Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd put the following question to Democratic presidential frontrunner Senator Bernie Sanders, (Vermont-I), on Sunday:
“Somebody that likes their 401k right now, but doesn’t like the character of Donald Trump, how do you convince them to vote for you?”
“I convince them to vote for us because we are going to create an economy that works for the middle class …,” Sanders began.
“But they think their economy works well for them,” Todd interrupted.
“For some of them, it may …,” Sanders countered.
“It’s been working for them, that’s my point,” Todd again interrupted.
“Look, here’s the reality,” Sanders said, his voice rising. “Half of the American people today are living paycheck to paycheck. Today, you have half a million people sleeping out on the streets when you’ve got three people owning more wealth than the bottom half of America.”
Claiming that, “We’re the only country major country in the world not to guarantee health care to all people,” he cited the “45 million people” supposedly struggling with student debt.
“Please don’t tell me that this economy is working well for all people. It’s working phenomenally well for Trump’s billionaire friends, not for working Americans,” Sanders concluded.
Participant reaction
MTP posted the clip to Twitter and, as expected, the back-and-forth comments flew from plan participants.
“I’m middle class. I have a 401K, I can’t imagine anyone with a shred of common sense, voting for socialism (all Dem candidates), instead of @POTUS,” one Trump supporter posted.
“As somebody whose 401(k) has been doing well, I don’t care about that,” a Bernie Bro shot back. “For me, it’s about decency, not the Dow. It’s about the middle class, not my money. If it’s Bernie v Trump, Bernie gets my vote. Not even close. Self-obsessed ‘me, me, me’ voters are not up for [grabs].”