Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is stepping up his attacks on the rich and firing a shot directly at Bill and Hillary Clinton’s $30 million in recent speech fees, claiming that their money “hustle” has the potential to isolate them from reality.
Dining with CNBC Bureau Chief John Harwood as the cameras whirred for his “Speakeasy” feature, the insurgent candidate for president also described Hillary Clinton as the establishment candidate. “I think it’s hard not to acknowledge that Hillary Clinton is part of the establishment. I think that’s hard not to acknowledge,” he said over spaghetti and meatballs.
It was when Harwood asked about the Clintons raking in $30 million in speech fees over the last 16 months that prompted Sanders to suggest that living a millionaire’s lifestyle can put politicians out of touch with everyday people.
“Well, theoretically, you could be a multibillionaire and, in fact, be very concerned about the issues of working people. Theoretically, that’s true. When you hustle money like that, you don’t sit in restaurants like this. You sit in restaurants where you’re spending — I don’t know what they spend — hundreds of dollars for dinner and so forth. That’s the world that you’re accustomed to and that’s the world view that you adopt. I am not going to condemn Hillary and Bill Clinton because they have made a lot of money. That type of wealth can, you know, has the potential to isolate you from the reality of the world.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
