Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, an LGBTQ+ ally who caucuses with Democrats, criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ “disastrous campaign” for president, stating that the national Democratic Party had “abandoned working class people” who, in turn, abandoned the party.

The economy ranked as the most important issue for voters.

Here is Sanders’ full statement:

It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and Black workers as well. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change, and they’re right.

Today, while the very rich are doing phenomenally well, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and we have more income and wealth inequality than ever before. Unbelievably, real, inflation -accounted-for weekly wages for the average American worker are actually lower now than they were 50 years ago.

Today, despite an explosion in technology and worker productivity, many young people will have a worse standard of living than their parents, and many of them worry that artificial intelligence and robotics will make a bad situation even worse. Today, despite spending far more per capita than any other country, we remain the only wealthy nation not to guarantee healthcare as a human right, and we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. We, alone among major countries, cannot even guarantee paid family and medical leave.

Today, despite strong opposition from a majority of Americans, we continue to spend billions funding the extremist Netanyahu government’s all-out war against the Palestinian people, which has led to the horrific humanitarian disaster of mass malnutrition and the starvation of thousands of children.

Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as how as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy, which has so much economic and political power? Probably not.

“n the coming weeks and months, those of us concerned about grassroots democracy and economic justice, need to have some very serious political discussions.

Stay tuned.”

This is just one update in a bigger story. Don’t miss Live updates: Day 2 of election results coverage on LGBTQ Nation for more context and updates.