Sanders says Democrats should hold Trump accountable but ‘cannot spend all of our time’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday said Democrats will need to hold President Trump accountable when they take over control of Congress starting in January but added that they “cannot spend all of our time” just investigating the president.

“Do we want to hold the Trump administration accountable for their corruption, for their illegal, unconstitutional actions? Absolutely,” Sanders told NBC News’s Kristen Welker during his appearance on “Meet the Press.”

But Sanders said that with a slew of issues that Senate Democrats should handle, “we cannot spend all of our time investigating Trump.”

“We ought to stand up for working class families, make a real difference in their lives,” he said.

Sanders called for passing single-payer healthcare — or “Medicare for All” — within the first year of Democratic control in Congress and said that he thinks Trump “is mentally unbalanced, erratic, but he’s not stupid and he’s a good politician,” and could therefore work with Democrats to make meaningful changes.

“He would love, I think, to take credit for doing what every other major country does, guaranteeing healthcare to people,” the Vermont Independent said.

Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday dodged questions on CNN’s “State of the Union” about Democrats’ calls to investigate the president, his family and members of his Cabinet. He pointed to rhetoric and alleged threats to donors and individuals who are conservative and “might want to work for conservative institutions or for a conservative government or for President Trump.”

“You are allowed to be critical of President Trump, of me, of this administration. But when the threats become so vile and so dangerous that you are telling people in college that they better be careful if they want to work in the Trump administration, because somebody will come after them at some point. You have to draw the line,” Blanche added.

Democrats have said they will flex their investigative muscles after their historic wins this week — with Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), who will soon chair the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, calling on the administration to “Lawyer up.”

“We’re going to bring accountability to those who have visited unprecedented corruption on this country,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), set to be the next House Speaker, said Tuesday. “Because if you have people in high office who are so focused on enriching themselves, their family members, their friends or their donors, then they’re not focused on making life better for the American people. But House Democrats will put the American people first.”

But the cost of living was a leading issue going into the midterms, with many Americans saying they did not approve of Trump’s handling of the economy and inflation.

The launch of the Iran war led to soaring fuel prices, with gas costing $1 more a gallon than the national average last year, according to AAA . Data from the travel agency showed that the average price for gas costs $4.02 as of Sunday.