Last night, Lawrence O’Donnell gushed over Bernie Sanders’ authenticity and the consistently large crowds he has acquired in his speeches across the country. The July 6 edition of The Last Word featured a panel discussion which emphasized that the Vermont senator’s socialism isn't that far outside the mainstream.

O’Donnell asked former Vermont governor Howard Dean if Sanders has “managed to educate Vermonters to the essential truth that we’re all socialists now?” He prefaced that question by noting the tendency of Democrats to “run away” from calling themselves liberal. The MSNBC personality then cheered the fact that Sanders openly embraces socialism and “the fact that he is a socialist.”

Despite O’Donnell’s claims, Dean dismissed that Sanders has educated people about socialism “so much as to say who he is.” The 2004 presidential candidate continued by glorifying Sanders’ authenticity:

Most politicians are afraid. They don't dare say this. They are poll driven. I doubt Bernie Sanders has ever taken up an issue and given a speech in his life based on some poll that one of his people did.

Dean continued by claiming “nobody really knows what a socialist is, except for people in academia, and Bernie Sanders just said yeah, I’m one. So what?” O’Donnell switched gears, bringing the conversation back to the idea that America is a socialist country:

Gene Robinson, the uh, Newsweek did a cover so many years ago – I can’t remember – saying we're all socialists now. Medicare is a socialist program. Social Security is a socialist program. No politicians advocate the abolition of Social Security, therefore they embrace socialism at some level, Bernie much more than others. But he’s not afraid of that word.

The Washington Post columnist agreed wholeheartedly with O’Donnell’s assessment: “So he embraces the word. He uses the word. You are correct that we have many socialist programs that are now ingrained in our government.” Robinson declared that Sanders will be attractive to a wide array of Americans, and his appeal will not be limited to just young voters.

The relevant portion of the transcript is below.