Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is under fire by Republicans for using private jets during his nationwide “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Criticism of the wealthy and economic inequality has formed the bedrock of the tour. However, progressives are now receiving backlash from Republicans who view their use of luxury aircraft to travel the United States as hypocritical. On Wednesday, Sanders’s comments ridiculing the idea that he should use commercial airlines for travel sparked further criticism from Republicans, who characterized his remarks as “out of touch.”
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The debacle started last month when Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez were filmed climbing into jets while on their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Sanders has spent millions of dollars on private jet travel over the years, including over $200,000 since he and Ocasio-Cortez launched the tour in February, according to a report from the Washington Free Beacon.
Sanders pivoted questions on the matter Wednesday to President Donald Trump.
“When was the last time you saw Donald Trump during a campaign mode at a national airport?” he asked during an interview with Brett Baier on Fox News’s Special Report.
Baier pushed back, saying Trump was “also not fighting the oligarchy.”
Sanders responded that using private jets was the only way he could “do three or four or five rallies in a week … [and] go around to talk to 30,000 people” for events, including his tour.
“Think I’m going to be sitting in the waiting line at United [Airlines] waiting? You know what? 30,000 people are waiting?” Sanders continued.
Private jets are “the only way you can get around,” added Sanders, who has criticized some jet use in the past. “No apologies for that. That’s what campaign travel is about. We’ve done it in the past. We’re going to do it in the future.”
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) was among the Republicans on Thursday who slammed Sanders over the comments.
“Bernie Sanders blew $221K on private jets during his ‘fight the oligarchy’ tour—then mocked the idea of flying commercial: ‘You think I’m gonna wait in line at United?’” Hunt said in an X post. “This is how the Left sees you: beneath them. The hypocrisy is staggering—but never surprising.”
“Out of touch socialist Bernie Sanders says he flies private jets to his ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour to avoid regular Americans,” the National Republican Congressional Committee added.
Right-wing conservative commentator Laura Loomer has argued that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez’s use of private jets contradicts their commitment to progressive climate agenda items, including the Green New Deal, which pushes the idea that global change is an existential threat and reducing the carbon footprint by cutting emissions through reducing activity such as luxury air travel could help save the planet.
“While claiming to fight billionaires and pushing the Green New Deal, they are flying private like the globalist elites they pretend to oppose,” Loomer said.
Others have risen to Sanders’s defense, citing his advanced age and the impracticality of using commercial flights for campaign activities.
“Bernie Sanders is 83 and had to be in multiple states in the same day. In that situation, you fly private,” former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said.