Bernie Sanders scolds CNN during town hall with Anderson Cooper for not talking healthcare

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called out CNN and "corporate media" during a town hall conversation with CNN's Anderson Cooper that aired live on the network Wednesday, accusing the media of not talking about healthcare issues. 

As Sanders argued that the American healthcare system is broken, Cooper tried to continue their conversation by taking questions from audience members. Sanders pushed back and argued that he wanted to talk about healthcare. 

"I know you do, but I want to talk about," Sanders said. "Sometimes these issues about health care, about income and wealth inequality are not talked about in the corporate media. And it‘s time that we did talk about them. That‘s why the question a moment ago, why are people losing faith in the American system? We don‘t talk about it on CNN. We don‘t talk about it in Congress."

"When I‘m running around the country with Alexandria [Ocasio-Cortez] and other people, what we are trying to do is demand that working-class people begin to stand up and fight for their rights. There is no reason we should be the only major country not to have health care, not to have paid family and medical leave, etc.," the progressive senator continued.

BERNIE SANDERS SAYS DEMOCRATS HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN SCHUMER, PARTY HAS ‘NO GRASSROOTS SUPPORT’

He then said to the audience that they've got to get CNN and their congressional representatives to talk about those issues. 

Cooper interjected and said they were "literally talking about it right now."

"Yeah, but I’m forcing you to talk about it, Anderson!" Sanders shot back.

Sanders also took aim at President Donald Trump during the town hall, calling on the American people to "wake up."

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"This is whether or not we remain a free society," he said. "Or, do we all bow down to our new king, President Trump? That is not the kind of nation I think we want to become."

The senator also talked about his own caucus. 

"Within the Democratic caucus in the House and the Senate, you have people with different political persuasions," he told CNN. "There are some of us who from day one have understood that we’ve got to stand up and rally the American people to fight against this horrendous agenda, which at the end of the day is really significantly about giving massive tax breaks to the top 1%."

Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have been touring the country in an effort to speak out against Trump and Elon Musk.