In this episode of “On Contact With Chris Hedges,” Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein sits down with Hedges at a crucial moment in the 2016 election cycle to talk about the many emergencies—local, national, international—that her two major-party counterparts will be categorically unable to confront, much less solve. 

Read: Chris Hedges: Why I Support Dr. Jill Stein for President

Stein sizes up the newly minted pair of nominees, quickly summing up the reasons why they can’t effectively lead the country out of economic or social crisis. “Putting another Clinton in the White House—that’s not the solution, that was the problem, and it’s only going to fan the flames of right-wing extremism,” Stein tells Hedges. “As Bernie Sanders himself said many times, the solution to this kind of crisis—and it’s real pain that the Trump supporters are responding to—the solution is truly progressive and transformative, just, economic revolutionary policies, and that’s what my campaign brings to the table.”

As for the two parties backing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? “Republicans are the party of hate and fear, but the Democrats, on the other hand, are the party of deportation, of detentions and night raids,” Stein says.

“And mass incarceration,” Hedges adds. Hedges also points out how Trump is “responding to a phenomenon” and is not to be mistaken for the phenomenon itself that has catapulted him into national prominence.

According to Stein, the Green Party is uniquely able to offer the ingredients for a true political revolution, as it is “the only party that does not take corporate money or lobbyists” and does not have super PACS. Because of this economic independence, she argues, party leaders and members can focus their attention and resources on the most important issues instead of scrambling to serve corporate interests.

Watch their full exchange below (RT via YouTube):

—Posted by Kasia Anderson