Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is being called out by conservatives for spending almost a quarter-million dollars on private jets as he criss-crosses the country with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
The two progressive lawmakers have been traveling around the U.S. on their “Fight Oligarchy” tour, which hosts rallies in swing states and conservative districts to encourage resistance against President Donald Trump and his billionaire sidekick Elon Musk.
But a recent revelation about his travel plans has sparked accusations of hypocrisy.
Campaign expenditures, originally shared by the Washington Free Beacon on Thursday, show that Sanders’ campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders, spent $221,723 on private jets during the first quarter of 2025.
Now, conservatives on Reddit are calling out Sanders, as his campaign speeches discuss a “rigged economy where working people struggle while billionaires become richer.”
“It’s (D)ifferent,” Reddit user OA12T posted, referring to the Democratic political party.
“Hey, hey, hey, now. It’s not easy getting from one of Bernie’s mansions to where the working people are!” joked u/Mehnard.
Another poster mentioned how “flying coach is pretty easy for anyone… so he takes big pharma money, big bank money and spends lavishly just like the elites he claims to hate.”
People dismissed the backlash, noting that most of Sanders’ funds come from “small individual donations.”
The expenditures also show that the campaign spent an additional $63,830 on commercial airline tickets.
“This argument is [moot],” bothsidesarefked argued. “And whatever negative impact his travel on private jets might have on the climate, his rallying against the current administration is certainly a net positive against the rampant deregulation.”
Sanders announced his national tour to “take on the oligarchy” in February. The tour began on Feb. 21 in Omaha, Nebraska.
The 83-year-old senator has made visits to “working class” districts that former President Joe Biden won in the 2020 election but Republican House members took in 2024.
His stops included events in Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona.
Sanders has called the turnouts he and AOC have been drawing “unbelievable,” with over 30,000 people attending their rally in Folsom, California. Trump was victorious in the district by about three points in November.
The two-time presidential candidate even made a surprise appearance at the Coachella festival in California over the weekend ahead of singer Clairo’s set.
“You can turn away, and you can ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you do it at your own peril,” Sanders said at the show. “We need you to stand up, to fight for justice. To fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice.”
But Sanders’ running mate on the tour is also getting flagged for her travel plans. Ocasio-Cortez was photographed flying first-class from New York to Las Vegas with Sanders. Another photo of the two on a private jet also went viral.
Prior to his tour, Sanders spoke out on the Senate floor about oligarchs, calling Musk and other billionaires “modern-day kings who believe they have the absolute right to rule.”
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