Bernie Sanders delivered a rousing speech at a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday.
“This election’s been a lot more fun now that we’re on the same side,” Sanders said, referring to Clinton. The two, of course, were once rivals in the Democratic primary.
Sanders was quick to turn the focus back to the voters.
“Despite what media may tell you, this campaign is not about Hillary Clinton, it is not about Donald Trump … this campaign is about you and millions of other Americans,” he said.
Sanders revisited the progressive rhetoric he used during the primary — including promises to push for a higher minimum wage and fight the influence of big money in politics.
“We will not allow billionaires to buy the United States government,” Sanders said.
And he talked at length about working with Clinton, if she is elected, to enact policies that strengthen the economy for working-class and middle-class families, and fight income inequality.
“This country, our government, belongs to all of us … there is one candidate running for president who has pledged to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, and that is Hillary Clinton.” Sanders declared. The crowd erupted into a chant of Clinton’s name.
Sanders has been campaigning on Clinton’s behalf in recent weeks, along with an all-star roster of Democratic Party luminaries in the run-up to Election Day.
In Raleigh on Thursday night, he torched what he called “cowardly” Republican governors he accused of trying to suppress voter turnout in economically vulnerable sections of the country.
“And I say to those governors, if you don’t have the guts to participate in a free, open, and fair election, get out of politics and get another job!”
The crowd roared, this time erupting into a chant of Sanders’ name.
Sanders appeared particularly fired up when he turned his attention to Trump, calling out the Republican presidential nominee’s historically raucous campaign in one impassioned statement.
“What upsets me the most — it’s beyond disagreement — is we have struggled for so many years to overcome discrimination and he is running his campaign — the cornerstone of which is bigotry,” he said.
Sanders continued:
“As Americans, we can disagree on many issues, but we have come too far, too many people have gone to jail, and too many have died in the struggle for equal rights. We are not going back to a bigoted society … Our strength, our uniqueness is our diversity. We should be proud of it and we are not going to allow Trump or anyone else to divide us up.”
Trump has spent the week attempting to paint Clinton as untrustworthy — frequently calling up the FBI’s ongoing inquiries into emails from Clinton’s time as secretary of state.
The GOP nominee sought to capitalize on lingering questions surrounding the case, which seemed to gain new life last week when FBI Director James Comey announced the agency would examine new emails that were found during an unrelated investigation.
The election is Tuesday, November 8.
As reported by Business Insider