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Sanders and Warren Willing to Work with Trump

Both say so between gritted teeth

Sens. Bernie Sanders, left, and Elizabeth Warren were two of President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest critics, but both are now expressing some openness to work with him. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Sens. Bernie Sanders, left, and Elizabeth Warren were two of President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest critics, but both are now expressing some openness to work with him. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Two of President-elect Donald Trump’s fiercest critics on the campaign trail have expressed willingness to work with him in the White House — with a few conditions.

Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned vigorously against Trump in his own race for president and as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton. But on Wednesday, he said that Trump won because he tapped into similar anxieties that he has discussed throughout his political career.

“People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes, and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids — all while the very rich become much richer,” Sanders said in a statement. 

Sanders said that to the degree that Trump is willing to improve the lives of middle-class families, he would be willing to work with him.

But “to the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him,” Sanders said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who ridiculed Trump’s “stupid wall” and called him “a small, insecure money-grubber,” expressed her dissatisfaction Wednesday with the election results. 

“I’m intensely frustrated by the apparent likelihood that, for the second time in five elections, a Democratic nominee will have won the popular vote but lost the presidency in the Electoral College,” she said in a statement.

Trump and Warren sparred repeatedly on Twitter throughout the campaign. He nicknamed the senator “Pocahontas” and has called her a “terrible person.”

But on Wednesday, Warren offered to put aside their differences to help the president-elect fulfill his promise to “re-build the economy for working people.”

Again, like Sanders, she hinted that Trump must put aside his more inflammatory sentiments about Mexican-Americans, Muslims and others.

“It is my sincere hope that he will fulfill that role with respect and concern for every single person in this country, no matter who they are, where they come from, what they believe, or whom they love,” she said.

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