VERMONT January 6, 2026 — In a nearly eight-minute video posted to X on Monday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) shared what he described as “good news and bad news,” celebrating the recent inauguration of New York City’s new mayor while sharply criticizing President Donald Trump’s administration for a military operation in Venezuela.
The “good news,” Sanders said, centered on his role in swearing in Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City last week. Mamdani, a democratic socialist and former state assemblyman, was inaugurated on January 1 in a historic ceremony, becoming the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor.
Sanders called Mamdani’s victory — achieved against established Democratic and Republican forces, as well as significant financial opposition — the “biggest political upset in modern American history.” He praised the grassroots effort, noting over 90,000 volunteers who knocked on millions of doors, as a model for restoring faith in democracy amid global concerns about its decline.
Defending Mamdani’s progressive platform, Sanders rejected critics who labeled proposals like affordable housing, free high-quality childcare, fare-free public buses, city-sponsored grocery stores, and higher taxes on the wealthy as “radical” or “communistic.”
“In the richest country in the history of the world,” Sanders said, these policies represent “the right and decent thing to do,” aligning with what working families need and what many countries already provide.
Turning to the “bad news,” Sanders condemned a U.S. military operation on January 3 that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. He argued that the president lacks unilateral authority to launch such actions, even against a “corrupt and brutal dictator,” and called on Congress to immediately pass a War Powers Resolution to halt what he described as an “illegal military operation.”
Sanders accused the Trump administration of reviving the Monroe Doctrine for imperialistic aims, particularly control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, and warned that the move sets a dangerous precedent for international law violations.
“This brazen violation of international law gives a green light to any other nation… or terrorist organization that may wish to attack another country,” he said.
Contrasting the events, Sanders urged focus on domestic crises like housing affordability, healthcare, and job losses due to AI, rather than “military adventurism abroad.” He expressed optimism for the progressive movement, stating, “If we are smart, disciplined, and focused… we will win.”
The video, captioned simply “I have some good news and some bad news,” quickly garnered hundreds of thousands of views and sparked polarized reactions online.
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