Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is a prolific author who has made millions of dollars selling books that promote socialism and trash capitalism. In fact, for his latest screed, It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism, Sanders was paid a cool $170,000 by publishing giant Penguin Random House. Then, Sanders launched a nationwide tour to hawk books and line his pockets even more. And that is where things got tricky for America’s most famous wannabe socialist.
While appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, Sanders was asked point-blank by Margaret Brennan, “Aren’t you benefiting yourself from this system that you’re trying to dismantle?” By this, Brennan was referring to the fact that Sanders is a multi-millionaire who is charging $95 to attend his book reading and signing events. Even worse, the tickets are being sold by the monopolistic monster known as Ticketmaster, which has been in the crosshairs of Sanders and his socialist comrades for its extremely unscrupulous (and very unsocialistic) business practices in recent years.
After an awkward smile, Sanders responded, “Those decisions are made totally by the publisher and the bookseller.” Right, Bernie. As if you had absolutely no say in the matter.
Then, Brennan pressed Sanders on the Ticketmaster issue, asking him if he is “OK doing business” with the ticketing giant? As per usual, when faced with a direct question about his proclivity to abandon the tenets of socialism when it benefits his bank account, Sanders meekly answered, “No, not particularly. But again, I have nothing to do with that. If you wrote a book, it would probably be the same process.”
And there you have it, yet another stunning display of unadulterated hypocrisy perpetuated by a man who claims to be a socialist when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars but acts like an unapologetic capitalist when it comes to accumulating personal wealth and property.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is the editorial director and a research fellow at The Heartland Institute, as well as a researcher and contributing editor at StoppingSocialism.com.
