In the lead-up to the election this November, Halsey will be sharing a series of videos in which she talks to Vermont senator Bernie Sanders about what's at stake. The first episode puts a focus on wealth tax, with Halsey concluding that America "must eradicate billionaires" in order to maintain a fair and just society.
The interview was recorded on Sept. 30 just after the first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, which Halsey called "arguably one of the most frustrating pieces of television I've ever had the misfortunte of witnessing." Trump notably interupted Biden countless times during the debate, much the chagrin of everyone who expected an actual debate rather than a shouting match. "It was certainly not one of the great moments in American history," replied Bernie.
The topic then firmly shifted towards wealth tax, as earlier the week the interview was recorded it was revealed that Trump had only paid $750 in federal taxes in 2016, and the same figure the following year. Before that, he reportedly didn't pay any federal teaxes for ten of the last 15 years.
"We grew up in really, really underprivileged situations. My parents had access to medical assistance, I grew up in those scenarios. And now, as an adult, at 26 years old, I’m part of the one per cent," said Halsey. "Having that sort of shift in perspective, given the ability to kind of see things from both sides, there’s one thing that I know for a fact... there is no amount of money that I think is worth personally contributing to the alienation, the disenfranchisement of millions—hundreds of millions of people across this country—which is why, despite being in the one per cent, I support the wealth tax. I believe that the people who oppose it are motivated by greed."
Sanders agreed with Halsey, and said that the top one percent are wealthier than the bottom 92 percent of Americans. "What we need to do is say to the people on top, sorry, we got folks, half a million people who are homeless, we have kids who are hungry, you are not going to have billions and billions and billions while so many people suffer," added Bernie. "We must eradicate billionaires," said Halsey. "It's an absolutely preposterous concept."
Watch the first episode of her chat with Bernie above, and look out for the second episode on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
