Bernie Sanders discussed "fixing" the Democratic Party on Monday night's Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

In the wake of last week's shock US presidential election results, the now independent Vermont senator took to the Late Show to express his ideas on the future of America.

As he walked on to the stage, Sanders was greeted with a chorus of "Bernie" chants from enthusiastic audience members, before lamenting that it had been a "tough week".

Sanders lost a hotly contested primary victory against Hillary Clinton to become the Democratic Party's presidential candidate. He then heavily endorsed Clinton during her campaign to keep Trump out of the White House.

But he explained that her loss to Trump signifies that the party needs to change, as it no longer resonates with middle and working class Americans.

“The Democratic Party cannot continue to be run by the liberal elite," he said.

"The party has got to transform itself to be a party which, first of all, opens the door, that is the party that feels the pain of working-class people, of the middle class, of low-income people, of young people. (A party that) brings people into the party."

He added: “The vast majority of the American people are on our side. Trump’s views are a minority. People do not think we should give tax breaks to billionaires. They do believe we should raise the minimum wage and have pay equity for women. They do believe we should make public colleges’ and universities’ tuition free. What you do now is get heavily involved in the political process. When millions of people stand up and fight back we will not be denied.”

Examining what helped Trump win the election, Sanders explained that the Republican representative was able to tap into the anger and frustration that many working class Americans have felt for a long time.

"A lot of people in this country who are suffering, who are hurting, who are scared to death about tomorrow for their kids and he tapped into that," he said.

“Trump was posing as a hero of the working class of America."

“The truth is, Democrats should not be losing to a candidate who insults so many people,” Sanders noted, adding that this result clearly implies that there's “something fundamentally wrong” with the Democratic Party.

Online Editors