Donald Trump inauguration: Bernie Sanders issues message to the world on 'tough day'

Veteran Democrat says opponents of Donald Trump must 'fight back effectively and vigorously'

Bernie Sanders has issued a passionate rallying call to Democrats on the day Donald Trump was sworn in as 45th President of the United States.

The Vermont senator, who ran against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, declared “we are not giving up” in a short video published on his Twitter page.

Speaking ahead of the inauguration ceremony, he said: “Today is going to be a tough day for millions of Americans, including myself. But our response has got to be not to throw up our hands in despair, not to give up, but in fact to fight back as effectively and as vigorously as we can.

“Our job is to keep our eyes on the prize. And the prize is that we will continue fighting for a government that represents all of us, not just the one per cent.

“We’re going to go forward in the fight for economic, social, environmental and racial justice. That’s who we are, that’s what we’re gonna do. We are not giving up.”

Mr Trump was sworn in as President during a ceremony in Washington DC on Friday afternoon.

His inaugural address contained many of the messages he had promoted during the presidential campaign, including promises to “make America great again”, put “America first” and "eradicate Islamic terrorism".

Mr Sanders, who has already been tipped to run for president again in 2020, is a member of the Senate Democrat’s leadership group that will be tasked with holding Donald Trump and the Republican majority in Congress to account.

He has been one of the most vocal criticsof the new president since the Republican’s election victory last November.

Earlier this month he took a giant print-out of one of Mr Trump’s tweets to a debate in the Senate. The tweet contained the Republican’s promise not to cut social security payments or the Medicare and Medicaid health programmes.

Mr Sanders used the printout during a debate on the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacre, which the Republicans and Mr Trump now hope to scrap.

The left-wing Democrat has also accused the new Prseident of being a “pathologiacl liar” amd claimed Mr Trump “changes his mind every day”.