To Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton is just another wealthy one-percenter.
The Democratic presidential candidate recently told CNBC chief Washington correspondent John Harwood over a meal at a speakeasy that Hillary and Bill Clinton’s lifestyle likely precludes them from being able to identify with the regular Americans who a truly struggling in the current economy.
“Theoretically, you can be a multibillionaire and, in fact, be very concerned about the issues of working people,” Sanders said, specifically discussing the $25 million the Clintons have made for delivering paid speeches in the last 16 months. “When you hustle money like that, you don’t sit in restaurants like this. You sit in restaurants where you spend, I don’t know, hundreds of dollars for dinner and so forth. That’s the world that you’re accustomed to and that’s the worldview that you adopt.”
While he refused to “condemn” the Clintons for making mass amounts of money, Sanders did admit, “that type of wealth has the potential to isolate you from the reality of the world.”
The socialist Vermont senator labeled it “obscene” and immoral that the top of the wealthy one percent — an elite group of which the Clintons are a part — own almost as much of the country’s wealth as do those at the bottom 90 percent.
Alas, Sanders has launched a bid for president in order to fight for these regular Americans, a choice he feels is logical and valuable because of the “discontent” and “anger” with the establishment of which he admitted Hillary Clinton is absolutely part.
“I think it’s hard not to acknowledge that Hillary Clinton is part of the establishment,” Sanders said.
And, while many view Sanders as an unlikely Democratic nominee — he labeled himself a “major underdog” — the Independent senator insisted that he’s not to be underestimated.
“I think we’re going to do better than people think and I think we’ve got a shot to win this thing,” Sanders affirmed.
