Bernie Sanders: Trump Administration Is Of The Billionaires, By The Billionaires, For The Billionaires

Forbes Breaking News

During a "Fighting Oligarchy" tour stop in Iowa on Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) criticized the number of billionaires in President Trump's orbit and administration.

Transcript

00:00Now, our friends in the oligarchy, and many of you may remember that when Trump was inaugurated,

00:22standing right behind him were the three wealthiest people in America.

00:28And I had kind of the misfortune. I got pushed up front. I'm not quite sure why that happened.

00:38Because nobody else wanted to do it. Bernie, you go up to the front row there.

00:42So I was closer to Trump getting inaugurated than you are to me.

00:47And right behind him was Mr. Musk, Mr. Bezos, and Mr. Zuckerberg, three wealthiest guys in America.

00:55But that's not enough. Behind them, you had 13 other billionaires who Trump had nominated to head major government agencies.

01:07And when I was there, it was a painful experience.

01:15When I was there listening to his speech, I really was thinking a little bit about American history.

01:21And I was thinking about Lincoln at Gettysburg.

01:25You all remember that when Lincoln was in Gettysburg, a few days after that terrible, terrible battle,

01:32where God knows how many thousands of soldiers died in order to try to end slavery in this country.

01:39Lincoln gets up there a few days, looks out in the battlefield, and he says,

01:43You know, these people, these soldiers have not died in vain.

01:48Because, in so many words, our vision of America, said Lincoln,

01:53is a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

02:01That was Lincoln in 1863.

02:15And I'm sitting there with Trump in 2025 saying, essentially,

02:22we've got a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, for the billionaire class.

02:35So what Trumpism is about is not complicated.

02:41I wish I did not have to tell you this, but I think you already know this.

02:46The President of the United States is a demagogue.

02:54And demagogues, historically and throughout the world, he's not the only one.

02:59They want two things.

03:02Number one is wealth for themselves and their friends,

03:07which is what Trump is delivering.

03:10And the other thing they want is more and more power for themselves.

03:20Now, I would hope that when we recall how many brave men and women,

03:28from Iowa, from Vermont, from every state in this country,

03:33put their lives on the line to defend American democracy,

03:39that I would hope that no matter what your political view is,

03:42you disagree with me, fine.

03:44That's called democracy.

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