Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders chatted with Comedy Central’s Larry Wilmore over deviled eggs, fried chicken and biscuits for a “soul food sit-down.”
In the interview, which was recorded Friday and broadcast on Monday’s episode of The Nightly Show, Sanders — who, at one point, donned a “Black-Eyed Peas Matter” baseball cap — made his pitch to black voters. He also said that he believes America is ready for its first socialist president, and that at 74 years old, he’s not too old to win the White House.
Wilmore noted that activists affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement had interrupted several Sanders campaign events. “I’ll be honest with you: I hate it when black people interrupt me,” he told Sanders, to laughs from the audience. “What do you think would be a good way to get black people to ‘Feel the Bern?’”
“We’ve got to do everything we can to end institutional racism in this country and more,” Sanders explained. “We’ve also got to deal with real criminal justice reform.”
At that point, Wilmore suggested a different approach: “You could also say ‘Look, my plans for criminal justice reform and to help the black community are on fleek.'”
Sanders, repeating “on fleek,” looked perplexed, saying later as he looked at the camera, “Larry Wilmore says that I should tell you that my plans for criminal justice reform are ‘on fleek.’ I’m on my way now!”
The Sanders segment on The Nightly Show comes as his campaign is working to boost its appeal among African American voters. African American voters do not make up significant chunks of the primary electorate in Iowa and New Hampshire, but will become crucial to the nomination fight after those two early states.
“Do you think America is ready for the first socialist president?” Wilmore asked Sanders, who describes himself as a “democratic socialist.”
“Yeah, I do,” Sanders said, explaining that the United States has much to learn from countries like Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, where there is free healthcare and college education.
Later, Wilmore asked Sanders whether he thought people were afraid of the word “socialism”: “Are you going to take my deviled egg? Is that what it means?”
After cramming the egg, garnish and all, into his mouth, Wilmore proclaimed: “By the way, socialism tastes fantastic.”
Near the end of the interview, the conversation veered to Donald Trump, who continues to lead in the race for the Republican nomination. Wilmore argued that part of Trump’s appeal to voters is the “Make America Great Again” hat that’s become a favorite of hipsters everywhere.
Sanders, Wilmore said should get his own: a hat marked with the words “Black-Eyed Peas Matter.”
Pulling it onto his head, Sanders asked, “And you think this is going to bring me over the top?”
“That’s going to bring America together,” Wilmore declared. “And just let me be clear: I’m not really talking about The Black Eyed Peas, because they really don’t matter anymore.”
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