While addressing students at the University of Vermont in 1986, 2020 presidential candidate and declared socialist Bernie Sanders recalled his “excitement” as he watched Castro’s revolution rising up against the ugly rich people.” Here are the relevant excerpts from the 1986 video below.
I remember being very excited when Fidel Castro made the revolution…It just seemed right and appropriate that poor people were rising up against rather ugly rich people. I remember – a very distinct feeling – I was watching the famous Nixon/Kennedy debate…I remember sitting in my college dormitory watching the debate. At that time, I was very excited and impressed by the Cuban Revolution. And there was Kennedy and Nixon talking about which method they should use about destroying the revolution…
Kennedy was saying that Nixon was too soft on communism…we should deal firmly with Fidel Castro. And Nixon was playing the role of ‘Hey, you got to be patient. You can’t do these things. You got to negotiate.”
But, of course, what Nixon was really upset about was that secretly they were planning the Bay of Pigs invasion, right then.
So, he was the liberal and Kennedy was playing the conservative. But I actually got up from the room and almost left to puke because, for the first time in my adult life, what I was seeing is the Democrats and Republicans, both of them…that clearly there wasn’t a whole lot of difference between the two…
Video: @BernieSanders, University of Vermont, 1986, recalls his excitement watching Castro’s revolution “rising up against the ugly rich people.” & his sick feeling watching JFK speak out against communism in Cuba.
Also bashes the @nytimes for lying about communism. pic.twitter.com/OUqzLFbsvz
— Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) February 21, 2019
As he announced his candidacy earlier this week, he told supporters, “Real change never takes place from the top on down, but always from the bottom on up.” He supports medicare for all, free college tuition, climate change legislation and he vows to address income inequality. “Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice…Together you and I and our 2016 campaign began the political revolution. Now it is time to complete that revolution and implement the vision that we fought for.”
Always on the lookout for novel ways to redistribute our income, Sanders has proposed several new tax increases for high-income Americans. The Wall Street Journal reports “his latest is a plan to collect $15 trillion in additional payroll taxes over the next 75 years. Mr. Sanders also will apply a separate 6.2% tax on investment income starting at $200,000 for a single filer and $250,000 for a married couple filing jointly.” He also supports expansion of the estate tax. Last month, Sanders proposed an expansion of the estate tax. Although this new tax would fall most heavily on the super-rich (a 77 percent rate on billionaire estates), it would affect estates starting at $3.5 million. Additionally, he promises his own version of the Green New Deal.
I’m running for president because, now more than ever, we need leadership that brings us together – not divides us up. I need you to be a part of this million person movement to transform our country. Join me: https://t.co/qF3DpJmRX3 pic.twitter.com/3wtNIEkH32
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 20, 2019
Considering his politics have not changed significantly in over three decades, it’s a bit ironic that Sanders owns three homes and has earned north of $1 million each year for several years in a row. It sure looks like Bernie is talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
Sanders owns a home in Burlington, VT, a quite lovely townhouse in Washington, D.C. and in 2016, he purchased a four bedroom lake house in Vermont for $575,000.
In addition, Sanders claims to be a champion of legislation to address our “planetary crisis.” Yet, in October, “he spent nearly $300,000 on air travel so he could speak to audiences in nine battleground states before the November midterms. This from a candidate who has endorsed a Green New Deal that seeks to dramatically reduce (if not eliminate entirely) air travel.”
Climate change is a planetary crisis. Our task is clear. We must take on the fossil fuel industry that's largely responsible for global emissions and accelerate our transition toward energy efficiency and sustainable energy sources. https://t.co/661WsIZJYt
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 10, 2018
Still, the disconnect between his personal life and his politics doesn’t seem to bother his supporters. He managed to raise nearly $6 million from over 225,000 donors in 24 hours following his announcement to enter the race.
The Daily Wire’s Charlie Kirk says it best in the following tweet.
How does someone:
Own three homes
Become a millionaire in a free market system
Honeymoon in the USSR
Never hold a real job
Spend hundreds of thousands on private air travel
…claim to be a Socialist and qualified enough to be President?
I don't know—ask @BernieSanders
🤔
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 19, 2019
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