Bernie Sanders: Why Billionaires Are Destroying Democracy | Tejano Talks

Senator Bernie Sanders explains why billionaires are destroying American democracy — and why Texas is the state that can stop it. In this candid interview from the 2026 Texas Democratic Convention, Sanders lays out how money in politics has created an oligarchy, what happens if AI escapes human control, and the path forward for working people.

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IN THIS EPISODE

— Why billionaires have captured our government — and the plan to fight back

— What happens if AI separates itself from human control

— Why Texas can lead the country in a new direction

— Behind the scenes at the convention

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome, and introducing Senator Bernie Sanders

00:39 Why Sanders came to the Texas Democratic Convention

00:50 "This should be a progressive state, not a conservative red state"

01:12 Texas's electoral votes, and turning the state blue

01:41 Winning in all 254 counties, income inequality, and "a trillionaire"

01:56 Citizens United, super PACs, and buying elections

03:05 Turning out the Tejano vote

03:43 Voter suppression, and "you refuse to debate the issues"

04:32 Immigrants, trans people, and "political piñatas"

05:22 Ad: Domingo Garcia Law Firm

05:41 Artificial intelligence: jobs, privacy, and losing control

07:04 Recent progressive wins: New York, Los Angeles, and beyond

07:31 Closing: "despair is not an option"

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Senator Bernie Sanders — the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history — sat down with Tejano Talks at the 2026 Texas Democratic Convention in Corpus Christi. Hosted by Domingo García, this conversation cuts through the noise and gets to the heart of what's at stake for Texas and the country.

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GUEST: Senator Bernie Sanders

HOST: Domingo García — Civil rights attorney, former Texas State Representative, and former LULAC National President  [corrected — see flag above]

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ABOUT TEJANO TALKS

Tejano Talks brings you unfiltered conversations with the leaders, activists, and storytellers shaping Texas politics and culture. New episodes weekly.  ["New episodes weekly" is vidIQ's claim about cadence, not independently confirmed — verify with Caroline before publishing.]

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#BernieSanders #Billionaires #Democracy #TexasPolitics #Oligarchy #TejanoTalks #PoliticalInterview #MoneyInPolitics #Texas #BernieSandersInterview

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:18

How's it going? Welcome to the Hunter Talks. My name is Hiram Garcia. I'm here with the best attorney in all of Texas, Domingo Garcia. And we've got a special guest today, Domingo. We've got Senator Bernie Sanders.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

The legend, the man himself, Senator Bernie Sanders. It's a pleasure to be here with me.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

I've known you. We've known each other for a very long time. A long time.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Yeah, he's doing amazing.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Yeah. So, Senator, you're here at the Texas State Democratic Convention. Why did you come here to Texas?

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Because the future of American politics rests. I don't want to get you too nervous, rest in this state of Texas. You have a great state. This should be a progressive state. It should not be a conservative red state. And anything that I can do to make that happen, I'm glad to do.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Aaron Powell So for the how listening out there, if Texas became a progressive state and went the route of New Mexico, California, Arizona, Trevor Burrus.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

Transform America. Transform America. How many electoral votes you got? 30 some odd?

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: You got 30 some odd electoral votes relevant in a presidential race. You got all these congressional districts. Turn that around. We change the White House, we change the House and the Senate in Washington. So what you guys are doing, and I'm very proud and excited about the changes that I've seen here in the Texas Democratic Party, going out, running candidates in areas that Democrats have not run in in decades, winning elections, fantastic. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Running all 254 candidates. Now income inequality, you know, the billionaire. We have a trillionaire. I think that should be against the law. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

That's crazy. Not in a thousand lifetimes.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

And and and billionaires running the basically buying politicians left and right, buying the lobbyists in Washington and also here in Austin. What can we do about that income inequality that we're seeing?

SPEAKER_03 2:09

Aaron Ross Powell Well, first thought, if you want to know why the rich are getting worked to, while 60 percent of Americans, and I suspect the number is higher here in Texas, are living paycheck to paycheck. Why is that? Why is government not responding to the needs of working people? And the answer is clear. The billionaires have a significant control over the political process through this their super PACs and this disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

And all the dark money.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

So you're a billionaire. You can spend as much money as you want. You want to run for office, stand up for the working class of this country, they will spend millions of dollars to defeat you. Oh, yeah. So that's what you got. And bottom line, there is maybe the most important thing we do is get rid of the Citizens United, get rid of super PACs in uh our election process, and try to create a real democracy of one person, one vote. You disagree with me, fine, that's called democracy. But you can't have the right to buy a bloody election.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Absolutely. And you know what, Bernie, I'm really happy you say that. You know, I think that the Texas future lies on Tejano's shoulders. You know, Texas is working really hard to try to stop Tejanos from voting because they know that once we vote, you know, Texas will flip and that would change the entire landscape. I see that you've been really focused on the growing threat of artificial intelligence.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

Let me get back to your point. Yeah. Look, I mean it really I I am very old-fashioned and I believe in democracy. You know what? I really do. You want to run against me? Run against me. Talk about the issues. While you think I'm not doing the job, I'll talk about you. That's called democracy. It's a beautiful thing. But what Republicans, because they have nothing real to say about the major issue, what do they have to say on healthcare? Let's throw 15 million people off healthcare. What do they have to say about raising the minimum wage? We can't do it. What do we have to say about artificial intelligence? Give the billionaires more power. They have nothing to say about the important issues. How do you win elections? Well, you win them in two ways. Number one, you make it harder for people to vote. And that is disgusting. That means you're a coward. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

It's un American.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

It is un-American and you're cowardly and you refuse to debate the issues. And the second thing you do is you divide people up. We can disagree on healthcare, we can disagree on climate, we can disagree on anything, democracy in action. But to have one group of to divide people up so we're at each other's throats rather than standing together, that's what their plan is, and we've got to overcome that.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

I think the Republican politics, this these cultural identity fights, using uh immigrants as political pinatas. Muslims, Jews, trans, you name it. I mean, like what you said, point zero one percent of people are trans, but that's all their commercials, right? That's right.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

That's right. And now everybody has got to understand. All of that is an effort to deflect attention away from the major issues facing our country. It's not the one-tenth of one percent of trans people who are denying you the right to have health care or a decent paying job or decent housing. So what they are doing is using, you know, undocumented people, gay people, black people, Latino, you name it. Every day we're supposed to hate somebody else. And our job is to refute that, to bring our people together around an agenda that works for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

For over 40 years, Domingo Garcia has fought for Texans.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Those big settlements and verdicts allow us to give back to the communities here in HTAC, making a difference, fighting the corporate bullies. That's why I became a lawyer.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Domingo Garcia, Tehado Tough.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

And you know, Bernie, back to the artificial intelligence question. Because as a young person, I'm really concerned about my future and it in its relation to the growth of artificial intelligence, data centers. I mean, they're putting them in rural communities, low-income communities, sucking up all the water. I know you've been making a lot of proposals to try to change that, but if you could just snap your fingers and decide what needed to happen with AI today, what would what would it be? Like, what would we be doing with artificial intelligence?

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Two issues. This I want everybody to understand this. AI and robotics are the most transformational technologies in the history of humanity. Makes the industrial revolution seem like a piece of cake. It is moving very, very rapidly, and it's going to transform the lives of every man, woman, and child in our country, and in fact, over a period of time in the world. Is are the American people, is Congress prepared to deal with that? What do we do if millions of people lose their jobs? What do we do if our privacy rights are invaded? What if we do if our kids are hooked on AI bots as their best friends? What do we do if, God forbid, AI becomes more intelligent than human beings, separates itself from human control? What happens then?

SPEAKER_01 6:51

And they control all the bombs. All the jets?

SPEAKER_03 6:54

Let me tell you something. You think this is science fiction? It ain't.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

So I gotta congratulate you. You know, we've had a couple of victories for the progressive cause. Mayor of New York. We just won three congressional districts there against the against the oligarchs and the multimillionaires here that were uh you know against them. And then uh with the mayor of Los Angeles, we got a runoff, you know, for the mayor of LA. Mayor of Washington, D.C., all progressive. And you've been there. You you are the lone soldier for a long time.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

And it's not enough. Okay, all right. You got friends now. I know. Look, let me just conclude because I've got to get going. Yeah. Yeah. These are tough times. I know that. But you know, what Domingo just said is true. All over this country, people are standing up, they're standing up to AI to data centers. They're electing candidates who are greatly outspent, establishment candidates, often young people running for office in their 20s, early 30s. So we are making progress, and despair is not an option. You got to get involved in the political process. Together, when we stand united, we can take on the oligarchs. We can beat them. We can beat them. Let's do it. Viva Bernie! Viva Bernie. Yeah, absolutely. Bernie, thank you so much for being on the hotel.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Thanks, I really appreciate you.