In a rally repeatedly punctuated by cheering and standing ovations, Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spent more than an hour Sunday addressing a more than a thousand supporters on the Cornell College campus in Mount Vernon.
Before coming into the gymnasium main event, Sanders met in a side room with 19 military veterans and veterans’ advocates. He apologized to those at the rally for being a few minutes late.
“People can disagree on many things. But, what we cannot disagree about is we will not turn our backs on men and women who put their lives on the line to defend this country,” he said.
Later in his speech, Sanders said he doesn’t favor putting American combat troops back in the Middle East to fight the ISIS terrorist threat. Rather, he said, the United States should lead in persuading Muslim factions to unite in eliminating ISIS.
“Muslim troops on the ground, supported by the air power, (and) Special Forces of the powerful nations of the world, in my view, that is the sensible way we destroy Isis without getting ourselves involved in perpetual warfare,” explained Sanders.
Sanders urged the cheering crowd to join his “insurgency campaign” against what he called the nation’s political establishment forces.
"[We are] taking on the political establishment because as the result of Citizens United, candidates are spending more time trying to raise money from billionaires than are addresses the real issues facing working families,” he said. “And we are taking on a corporate media establishment which tells us everything we need to know except what is most important for working families.”