WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement Tuesday after President Donald Trump accused members of Congress who did not clap during his State of the Union address of being un-American and treasonous: 

“The great political issue now facing our country is not Democrat vs. Republican or progressive vs. conservative. It’s much deeper than that. It’s about democracy vs. authoritarianism.

“Today we have a president who is undermining the first amendment by consistently referring to media criticism as ‘fake news.’ He has questioned the authority of an independent judiciary. He has tried to make it harder for people to vote by wildly exaggerating the extent of voter fraud. He has viciously attacked those in law enforcement who have investigated him. And yesterday he suggested that members of Congress who don’t mindlessly stand and applaud his every word are guilty of ‘treason.’

“Our job now is to remind Trump and his allies what democracy is all about. By our grassroots activism we will defend President Lincoln’s words at Gettysburg when he stated ‘that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’ Stand up. Fight back. Get involved.