Appearing on MSNBC Live With Katy Tur Tuesday afternoon, left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore lamented that his fellow Bernie Sanders supporters in Michigan were “people who are filled with an incredible, profound sense of despair.” The millionaire, who owns multiple homes, pleaded with voters to back the socialist senator – who is also a millionaire who owns multiple homes.
“What is Bernie Sanders looking at? So far, we haven’t seen turnout among young people like he had expected. Who are his people in Michigan?,” Tur asked during the 2:00 p.m. ET hour. A depressed Moore proclaimed: “Bernie’s people are the people who are filled with an incredible, profound sense of despair. Who feel debilitated and demoralized by a system that hasn’t benefitted them.”
The Sanders campaign surrogate continued preaching his optimistic message as the segment unfolded:
They just gave up. They’ve given up....if they feel like it’s just the same-old, same-old politics, the same-old game, a lot of people have just thrown their hands up to this. And I know, I wish they didn’t, but me wishing it isn’t going to make it away.
“And Bernie, I think, is inspiring to a lot of them,” Moore added as an afterthought.
Tur sympathized: “There is a problem with not just voter suppression, but voter apathy in this country. People who look at the system and say to themselves, ‘I don’t think I’m going to change anything if I vote.’” Moore bitterly complained: “Yeah, and the people in power love that, when people give up.” Tur agreed: “Of course they do....Because people in power are in power for a reason.”
Even when Tur raised the possibility of Sanders losing Michigan, Moore insisted: “It means we’ve been through the fourth inning now and Bernie’s behind by a run or two, that’s all it is....We’re not through this. The other states have a right to vote."
Tur observed: “So what I hear you saying is this should play out and we should see where we are before the convention?” Moore argued: “Yes, especially because all of your exit polls show that maybe people don’t necessarily vote for Bernie, but they vote for his policies.”
Moments later, the far-left activist warned that the window for voters to embrace socialism was closing:
...this is a long struggle. Bernie has built a huge movement and I have been encouraging people to get on board that movement. Don’t sit this one out. We won’t get a chance like this again for a long time. It’s so important for people watching right now in Michigan to vote.
In such desperate times, millionaire socialists must stick together.
Here is a transcript of the March 10 exchange:
2:22 PM ET
(...)
KATY TUR: What is Bernie Sanders looking at? So far, we haven’t seen turnout among young people like he had expected. Who are his people in Michigan?
MICHAEL MOORE: Bernie’s people are the people who are filled with an incredible, profound sense of despair. Who feel debilitated and demoralized by a system that hasn’t benefitted them. And when you say that they – the people that didn't vote in ’16, I don’t think that they – they’re not apathetic.
TUR: No, they just didn’t turn out for Hillary Clinton.
MOORE: They just gave up. They’ve given up.
And in 2018, though, they came back in Michigan. And we threw out all the Republicans in the top echelon of Lansing, the capital. We’ve got all Democrats, a woman governor, a black lieutenant governor, a lesbian attorney general, and a single mom who’s the secretary of state. That’s who we voted in two years ago. And we passed two ballot measures in 2018 to outlaw gerrymandering and to legalize marijuana. Because those ballot measures are on the ballot, a lot of people came out. A lot of young people voted, it was our record turnout for young people in an off-year election.
So young people will come out, African Americans will come out. But if they feel like it’s just the same-old, same-old politics, the same-old game, a lot of people have just thrown their hands up to this. And I know, I wish they didn’t, but me wishing it isn’t going to make it away.
TUR: Well, it’s true.
MOORE: And Bernie, I think, is inspiring to a lot of them.
TUR: 50% of the public just doesn’t vote in elections. There is a problem with not just voter suppression, but voter apathy in this country. People who look at the system and say to themselves, “I don’t think I’m going to change anything if I vote.” Republican, Democrat, it’s all the same. Let me ask you this though –
MOORE: Yeah, and the people in power love that, when people give up.
TUR: Of course they do.
MOORE: They love that.
TUR: Because people in power are in power for a reason.
MOORE: They’re happy being in power.
TUR: Let me ask you this, and I don’t presume to know what’s going to happen tonight.
MOORE: No, good, don’t.
TUR: If Bernie Sanders does not win, what does that say about his message and how it’s reaching people?
MOORE: It means we’ve been through the fourth inning now and Bernie’s behind by a run or two, that’s all it is. We haven’t even had the votes come in from California. I mean, where is that? It’s our largest state.
TUR: It takes them a while, they have so many mail-in ballots, it takes them a lot time.
MOORE: Well, shame on the Democrats, then, for setting up –
TUR: It’s always been the case for California.
MOORE: Really?
TUR: Yeah, they always –
MOORE: Has there always been mail-in voting? That’s new.
TUR: That’s new, but it’s always taken a longer time given the size and the population. There are 20 million mail-in ballots.
MOORE: How many people in California? Almost 40 million?
TUR: Yeah.
MOORE: And there’s almost 30 million here in New York State. So that’s 70 million. So that means one out of five Americans, actually, less – but one out of five Americans live in California or New York. We’ve heard from California, they want Bernie. We’ve heard from part of it, but it looks like the rest will. And we haven’t heard from New York yet. We’re not through this. The other states have a right to vote. Joe Biden, according to your map, 652, you need 1,991, alright? I don’t think – you know, maybe that’s a third of what he needs.
TUR: So what I hear you saying is this should play out and we should see where we are before the convention?
MOORE: Yes, especially because all of your exit polls show that maybe people don’t necessarily vote for Bernie, but they vote for his policies. Every exit poll has shown the majority of Americans in all these early primary states, they want Medicare for All, they want the minimum wage to go up, they believe in Bernie’s policies. They believe that climate change is real.
TUR: It is true, Medicare for All has been exit polling really well. Minimum wage has been exit polling really well. I wonder, though, if Bernie does not take away – does not get the nomination, what that says about his candidacy. If those – his ideas are polling well, but he doesn’t end up winning.
MOORE: It says that his ideas –
TUR: But again, I don’t presume to know –
MOORE: I know, but the ideas are always more important than the man or woman. It’s the ideas – if – look, this is a long struggle. Bernie has built a huge movement and I have been encouraging people to get on board that movement. Don’t sit this one out. We won’t get a chance like this again for a long time. It’s so important for people watching right now in Michigan to vote.
(...)
