Bernie Sanders has secured only three endorsements from fellow members of Congress for his 2020 Democratic presidential bid. But it’s anti-endorsements the socialist Vermont senator seems most proud of.
The Sanders campaign on Wednesday published a list of business leaders and other prominent figures who have condemned his policies and vehemently oppose his White House bid.
“We can propose all the ideas and plans we want, but nothing will fundamentally change until we have the guts to take on the most powerful corporate interests in America,” Sanders wrote on his campaign site Wednesday. “That is why I am proud to announce the modern-day oligarchs who oppose our movement.”
Among those who secured a place on the “anti-endorsement” list include JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who, according to Sanders, once said the message of making the wealthy pay their fair share “resonates [but] doesn’t make it right.”
Others, such as former Goldman Sachs partner Leon Cooperman, is quoted as attacking Sanders more directly: “Bernie Sanders, in my opinion, doesn’t have a clue.” Home Depot co-founder Kenneth Langone is also listed, who once said, “In 2016 I saw Bernie Sanders and the kids around him. I thought: ‘This is the antichrist!”’
“While Sanders is proud to have earned the scorn of billionaires and CEOs, he is also proud to have the support of progressive leaders across the country,” his campaign said in a statement.
Sanders, who secured over 43% of the Democratic vote during his 2016 primary campaign, has struggled to recapture that same enthusiasm this time around. Both former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg have brought in more money in the most recent fundraising cycle, and Sanders has seen his poll numbers slip to third or fourth place — behind the likes of Biden and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California — in several surveys of Democratic primary voters.
