Alternative pop artist Halsey has launched a new conversational video series alongside United States Senator Bernie Sanders, simply titled Bernie and Halsey Discuss America. This series is broadcast from IGTV, YouTube and Twitter, where it features the two figures discussing issues such as climate change, wealth taxes, LGBTQ+ protection, racial injustice and healthcare (including reproductive health) on video call. The first episode of this series, “Greed and The Wealth Tax,” is out now.
During this first episode the two discuss Sanders’ proposed wealth tax and greed among the top one percent of earners in this country, who, according to studies done by The Washington Post, The New York Times and USA Today, make more than the bottom 90 percent. This statistic has been a frequent banner behind Bernie Sanders’ political campaigns, including his 2020 presidential run, which he dropped out of in April following several losses in several key American states.
Halsey explained that she has seen both sides of the fence, growing up in a low-income, multi-racial family, before making it big in the music industry, becoming the top one percent of earners.
“For me personally, there is no amount of money that I think is worth personally contributing to the alienation and the disenfranchisement of hundreds of millions of people across this country,” Halsey stated. “Which is why, despite being in the 1 percent, I support the wealth tax, because I believe the people who oppose it are motivated by greed. The amount of income I have doesn’t even make a drop in the bucket compared to these billionaires.”
Halsey debuted a new music video for “929” back in September and teamed up with Bring Me The Horizon for the nu metal song “Experiment On Me” back in February. The band Nothing released a song called “Bernie Sanders” last month as well.