Bernie Sanders Joins Larry Wilmore for a Soul Food SitDown
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders joined Larry Wilmore for a Soul Food Sit-Down that aired Monday night, donning props including sunglasses and an American flag cap as part of his bid to win the Democratic nomination. The segment on Wilmore's The Nightly Show on Comedy Central follows Sanders' appearance with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show on Friday. Sanders is seeking to increase his exposure with a national audience and improve his name recognition a little more than four months before the first primary contests next year. Sanders played a patient host with Wilmore, who joked and interrupted the senator as he tried to repeat his message of social change for a national audience. Wilmore crunched into a piece of fried chicken as Sanders began saying the United States should look more to democratic socialist countries like Finland. Wilmore asked, "Is that their way of keeping people in Finland?", Wilmore mentioned the moment when Sanders' speech at Netroots Nation was halted by Black Lives Matter activists, saying, "I'll be honest with you, I hate it when black people interrupt me. What do you think would be a good way to get black people to Feel the Bern?'", , He then encouraged Sanders to say his plans for criminal justice reform are "on fleek," which Sanders gamely repeated. Then Wilmore questioned why Donald Trump is winning the Republican primary. "The guy who's making all the noise right now is Donald Trump," said Wilmore. "If you take everything else away, you know what he has that no one else has?", "Five billion dollars?" Sanders interjected. "Nope. A hat," said Wilmore, then asking Sanders to where a hat that says "Black-Eyed Peas Matter.", Sanders is ahead in polls in New Hampshire and edging out Hillary Clinton in Iowa, but still about 20 points behind in national polls.