In a six-minute YouTube video posted on Oct. 28, titled Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that a vote for Kamala Harris is the better choice for those angry about the war in Gaza.

“I understand that there are millions of Americans who disagree with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the terrible war in Gaza; I am one of them,” Sanders said in the video, titled “I disagree with Kamala’s position on the war in Gaza. How can I vote for her? Here is my answer.”

“While Israel had a right to defend itself against the horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages, it did not have the right to wage an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people. It did not have the right to kill 42,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom were children, women and the elderly, or injure over 100,000 people in Gaza.”

He also said Israel didn’t have the right to destroy Gaza’s infrastructure, housing and healthcare system, to bomb all 12 of Gaza’s universities or to block humanitarian aid, causing massive malnutrition and starvation.

“That is why I am doing everything I can to block U.S. military aid and offensive weapons sales to the right-wing, extremist Netanyahu government in Israel,” he said.

Sanders added that he knows many share those feelings and that some who do are asking themselves how they can vote for Harris, “if she is supporting this terrible war.

“That is a very fair question, and let me give you my best answer,” he said. “And that is, even on this issue, Donald Trump and his right-wing friends are worse. In the senate, in Congress, the Republicans have worked overtime to block humanitarian aid to the starving children in Gaza.”

By contrast, Sanders said, both Biden and Harris support getting as much humanitarian aid into Gaza as soon as possible.

He also pointed out that Trump has said Netanyahu is “doing a good job” and that Biden is “holding him back.”

“He has suggested that the Gaza Strip would make excellent beachfront property for development,” Sanders said. “And it is no wonder Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office.

“But even more importantly, and this I promise you, after Kamala wins, we will together do everything that we can to change U.S. policy toward Netanyahu: an immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, a surge of massive humanitarian aid, the stopping of settler attacks on the West Bank and the rebuilding of Gaza for the Palestinian people.”

He added that there’s a better chance of changing U.S. policy with Harris as president than with Trump, who is “extremely close” to Netanyahu and, “sees him as a like-minded, right-wing extremist ally.”

Sanders also emphasized that as important as Gaza is — and as strongly as many feel about the issue — it isn’t the only issue at stake in the election.

“If Trump wins, women in this country will suffer an enormous setback and lose the ability to control their own bodies,” he said. “That is not acceptable.”

Sanders also said a Trump win would mean the struggle against climate change — “which virtually every scientist who has studied the issue understands is real and an existential threat” — would be over because if the U.S. — the world’s largest economy — stops transforming our energy systems away from fossil fuel, every other country will do the same.

“And God only knows the kind of planet we will leave to our kids and future generations,” Sanders said.

He also said that if Trump wins, “at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, he will demand even more tax breaks for the very richest people in our country, while cutting back on programs that working families desperately need. The rich will only get richer, while the minimum wage will remain at $7.25 an hour and millions of our fellow workers will continue to earn starvation wages.”

Sanders then brought attention to Trumps’ recent rally at Madison Square Garden, where bigotry was on display.

“It was not a question of speakers getting up there, disagreeing with Kamala Harris on the issues,” he said. “That wasn’t the issue at all. They were attacking her simply because she was a woman and a woman of color. Extreme vulgar sexism and racism.

“Is that really the kind of America that we can allow?”

Sanders concluded by saying this is the most consequential election of our lifetimes.

“Many of you have differences of opinion with Kamala Harris on Gaza,” he said. “So do I. But we cannot sit this election out. Trump has got to be defeated. Let’s do everything we can in the next week to make sure Kamala Harris is our next president.”