“These are very scary times for the people of the United States, and … for the whole world. We have a president who is a pathological liar. Trump lies all of the time.”

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian in his home, in Vermont, Democratic senator Bernie Sanders criticized the hypocrisy of Donald Trump and stated his plan to make the Democratic party more attractive to working-class people."Trump lies in order to undermine the foundations of American democracy.” Take his “wild attacks against the media, that virtually everything the mainstream media says is a lie.”

Since he lost the nomination for presidential candidate against Hillary Clinton, Sanders has kept his familiar critique of modern capitalism – that it has left the US, alongside the UK and other major democracies, vulnerable to rightwing assault. This is how he connects Trump with Brexit, and in turn with the jitters gripping continental Europe ahead of elections in France and Germany – common manifestations all, he believes, of the ravages of globalization.

What word of advice would he give a young person, a twentysomething American who is scared and who feels that their country is moving against them? What should they do?, The Guardian asks him. His answer is consistent: 

“This is what they should do,” he says. “They should take a deep reflection about the history of this country, understand that absolutely these are very difficult and frightening times. But also understand that in moments of crisis, what has happened, time and time again, is that people have stood up and fought back. So despair is absolutely not an option.”