Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders – known for railing against the super-rich – is now a millionaire himself, and shared his moneymaking secrets with America. Sanders was flooded with accusations of hypocrisy in return.
Bernie Sanders, currently a top contender for the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency next year, is not a man usually associated with wealth. Indeed, the Vermont Senator has lobbied for higher taxes on “millionaires and billionaires” for his near four-decade political career, and often chose to fly coach during the early days of his 2016 campaign.
Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join em. Sanders told the New York Times on Tuesday that he is now a member of the two comma club, thanks to a Senator’s six-figure salary and a bestselling book; 2018’s ‘Where We Go From Here.’
“I wrote a best-selling book,” he told the Times. “If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too.”
Simple? Maybe. Sanders’ advice was lost on conservatives, who bashed the proud socialist for dabbling in capitalism on the side. Not only did Sanders get rich by flogging his hardback call-to-action, he flogged it on Amazon, whose owner Jeff Bezos has been a frequent target of Sanders’ anti-rich polemics.
Sanders’ disclosure came ahead of his decision to release the last 10 years of his tax returns in the coming days. The socialist senator called on President Trump to do the same and insisted that his own wealth pales in comparison to Trump’s.
“Not being a billionaire, not having investments in Saudi Arabia, wherever he has investments, all over the world, mine will be a little bit more boring,” Sanders said.
Four of Sanders’ 2020 competitors have already made their tax returns public. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren have all disclosed their earnings, as has Washington Governor Jay Inslee.