Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) joked during an interview with Sarah Silverman released Thursday that the United States kills children and destroys homes, but at least its senators don’t swear.
The comedian interviewed Sanders as part of her Hulu show "I Love You, America." After Silverman loudly greeted Sanders in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Sanders told her to quiet down.
Silverman replied that she will use her "indoor voice." Sanders pointed out that they "can’t even use dirty words. This is the United States Senate."
"We just, um, starve little children, we go bomb houses and buses of children, and we give tax breaks to billionaires," Sanders added. "But we don’t use dirty words."
Later in the interview, Sanders said, "This whole place is built on a lie."
Sanders likely meant to reference the ongoing conflict in Yemen, in which a Saudi coalition has undertaken a bloody campaign against Houthi forces. The conflict, which broke out in 2015, followed a failed 2011 transition of power from Yemen’s strongman president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The United Nations World Food Programme believes 80 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished. Of the whole population, 8.4 million out of 29 million, are at risk of starvation, per U.N. figures, and that number is expected to rise.
Sanders has repeatedly protested since a Saudi coalition killed dozens of children aboard a school bus in Saada province in August. An apology and promise to hold responsible parties "accountable" followed, though a spokesman for the forces initially claimed the attack was aimed at rebels aboard the bus.
CNN reported that the bomb used in the strike was American-made, and delivered to Saudi Arabia as part of a State Department-sanctioned sale.
The US must stop supporting this catastrophic war. We cannot say we did not know. Instead of supplying bombs and refueling capabilities, we should be doing everything possible to create a peaceful resolution in Yemen and provide humanitarian help. https://t.co/oiCLGMUfof
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 19, 2018
The Washington Post reported that the United States is providing the coalition "with refueling, intelligence and billions in weapons sales."
Much of the humanitarian aid for Yemen passes through the port at Hodeida, presently under Houthi control and ongoing coalition bombing.
Later in their conversation, Silverman lamented how "the Right has weaponized the idea of socialism," accusing them of "go[ing] to the well of fear, of what is unknown."
Sanders proudly noted "that in the last couple of years, ideas that a few years ago seemed to be radical and extreme–"
"–are becoming mainstream!" Silverman interjected, completing his sentence.