Bernie Sanders Rails Against Musk And The 'Corrupt Campaign Finance System'

At a "Fight Oligarchy" event in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke about election financing.

Transcript

00:00You know, lately, given what's happening in America, I've been remembering the history

00:06lessons that I learned when I was in the sixth grade.

00:11And I remember, and I think many of you will recall, when you think about your education,

00:17you'll remember hearing about Abraham Lincoln on the fields of Gettysburg in 1863, and that

00:25was just a few days after 20,000 Union soldiers had either died or been wind-wounded fighting

00:35against the nightmare of slavery.

00:39And Lincoln looked out on that field, and this is what he said, and you will all remember

00:44it.

00:45He said, quote, we hear highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.

00:55That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.

01:01And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

01:17And that is precisely why we are here today.

01:23To make sure that government of, by, and for the people does not perish.

01:29And that we do not become a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class,

01:36and for the billionaire class.

01:41The American people do not want the richest guy on earth running all over Washington, D.C., decimating

01:50the Social Security Administration, making it harder, the richest guy on earth, making it

01:58harder for old people with disabilities to get the benefits that they paid into.

02:07Proposing to lay off 83,000 workers at the Veterans Administration, denying the health care that the

02:19men and women who put their lives on the line to defend us deserve, slashing the Department

02:26of Education, decimating USAID, which, by the way, means that hundreds of thousands, if not millions,

02:39of the most desperate people in this world will die as a result.

02:45And when we talk about oligarchy, it is not just economics.

02:52I trust that all of you know that you are living under a corrupt campaign finance system, which

03:00allows billionaires to buy elections.

03:04Don't tell me about democracy when Musk himself can put $270 million to elect Donald Trump and

03:17then get rewarded with the most important position in government.