Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) told CBS host John Dickerson on Sunday that it is clear the Democratic Party model is "failing."
Fresh off a "Unity Tour" alongside Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez that featured booing crowds and Sanders himself refusing to identify as a Democrat, Sanders laid out the party's flaws that allowed the Republicans to win the White House race against Hillary Clinton, as well as control both houses of Congress and a majority of governorships and state legislatures.
"I think what is clear to anyone who looks at where the Democratic Party today is that the model of the Democratic Party is failing," he said on "Face The Nation." "We have a Republican president who ran as the most unpopular candidate in the modern history of this country."
Fundamentally, Sanders said, the party has to change to a grassroots organization with decisions made from the bottom up. Sanders identifies as a democratic socialist and won accolades from the party's left flank during his run against Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination.
"A party that speaks to the pain of the working class in this country," Sanders said of what the Democrats needed to become. "The Democratic Party has got to take the lead, rally people, young people, working people, stand up to the billionaire class, and when we do that, you're going to see voter turnout swell. You're going to see people coming in and running for office. You're going to see Democrats regain control of the United States Congress."