Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says by the time of the February 1 Caucuses, he will have addressed about 50,000 people at rallies in Iowa.
“Maybe I’m right. Maybe I’m wrong. This is what I believe,” Sanders told a crowd in Burlington Wednesday. “I believe as I go around this state…we’re having huge turn-outs every place we go. I think we have a lot of momentum and I believe we have a real, real shot to win here in Iowa.”
Sanders told a crowd in Knoxville yesterday that his rallies in Iowa during 2015 attracted more than 34,000 people. Sanders was the only presidential candidate to make appearances in Iowa on the last day of 2015. In addition to a New Year’s Eve rally in Des Moines, Sanders met with The Des Moines Register’s editorial board Thursday afternoon.
“Before we begin, let me apologize,” Sanders said. “My voice is not all that great.”
This week Sanders has hit back at Republican candidate Donald Trump, who has suggested Sanders will have to raise tax rates on the wealthy to “90 percent” to fulfill all his campaign promises. Sanders called it a “pants-on-fire” lie and an attempt by billionaires like Trump to tamp down Sanders’ message about income inequality.
“We are at a pivotal moment in American history. We have an economy that is rigged,” Sanders said yesterday. “The vast of the people in Iowa and Vermont and around this country are working longer hours for lower wages and almost all the new wealth and income that is being created is going to the top one percent.”
Sanders will be back in Iowa next weekend, for a “Putting Families First” forum in Des Moines.