Bernie Sanders criticized for hypocrisy for profits from best-selling book
Sanders responded to backlash at his financial success from his 2016 best-selling book, saying that "if you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too."
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIDemocratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) takes the stage at a campaign rally in Concord, New Hampshire, U.S., March 10, 2019.(photo credit: BRIAN SNYDER / REUTERS)
US Senator Bernie Sanders rejected claims on Saturday that his growing wealth at large due to book sales following his 2016 campaign undermines his socialist political message, according to CNN. "I didn't know that it was a crime to write a good book which turns out to be a bestseller," Sanders said.Sanders, a democratic socialist who advocated for government benefits such as health care and tax reform, was the first Jew to win a major US presidential primary when he won the New Hampshire Democratic primary in 2016."I wrote a best-selling book. If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too," Sanders told the New York Times. Sanders's book, Our Revolution, was released in November of 2016 and snagged a spot on the Times's bestseller list.Despite Sanders's previous policies which criticize "billionaires" as well as wealthy corporate interests, he described himself as a millionaire last week. "My view has always been that we need a progressive tax system which demands that the wealthiest people in this country finally start paying their fair share of taxes," Sanders stated. "If I make a lot of money, you make a lot of money, that is what I believe."Intense scrutiny has been directed at Sanders's finances since his 2016 presidential campaign which stretches out to his current place as front-runner in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Sanders shared his 2014 tax returns in 2016, for example, and plans to do the same heading into the upcoming elections.
