World
India
Senator Bernie Sanders is drawing criticism from conservatives after campaign records revealed that his committee spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars on private jet travel. The revelations come as Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tour the United States on their “Fight Oligarchy” campaign, a national effort to challenge President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk.
Campaign finance disclosures first published by the Washington Free Beacon on Thursday show that Friends of Bernie Sanders, the senator’s campaign committee, paid $221,723 for private jet travel in the first quarter of 2025. An additional $63,830 was spent on commercial airline tickets.
Oligarchy Tour to Rally Working-Class Support
The “Fight Oligarchy” tour, announced in February and launched on February 21 in Omaha, Nebraska, has taken the two progressive lawmakers across swing states and conservative districts. Their goal: to galvanize resistance against what Sanders calls a “rigged economy where working people struggle while billionaires become richer.”
Throughout the tour, Sanders has made stops in key battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona—specifically targeting working-class districts that voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but flipped Republican in the 2024 House elections.
Speaking at a rally in Folsom, California—a district Trump carried by about three points in November—Sanders highlighted the strong public response. “Unbelievable,” he said of the turnouts, noting that over 30,000 people attended the California rally alone.
The 83-year-old senator even made a surprise appearance at Coachella ahead of singer Clairo’s set, using the platform to deliver a call to action.
“You can turn away, and you can ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you do it at your own peril,” Sanders told the crowd. “We need you to stand up, to fight for justice. To fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice.”
Online Critics Highlight Contrast Between Message and Means
The travel disclosures quickly made their way to Reddit, where conservative users accused Sanders of hypocrisy for using private jets while railing against economic elites.
“It’s (D)ifferent,” posted one Reddit user, OA12T, referencing the Democratic Party’s symbol.
“Hey, hey, hey, now. It’s not easy getting from one of Bernie’s mansions to where the working people are!” joked another user, Mehnard.
Bernie Sanders Spent $221K on Private Jets Amid ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ Tour – https://t.co/FPN15Uaqwm
— Vee Crowder (@VedaCrowde26688) April 17, 2025
One commenter remarked: “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.”
?
WHAT A HYPOCRITE!?
— Average American MAGA Patriot. (@MCope77773) April 17, 2025
However, others pushed back against the criticism. Defenders of Sanders noted that most of his campaign’s funding comes from small individual donations, not corporate interests.
“This argument is [moot],” wrote user bothsidesarefked. “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.”
Ocasio-Cortez Also Under Scrutiny
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has not been spared criticism. Photos of her flying first-class from New York to Las Vegas with Sanders, as well as another image of the pair aboard a private jet, went viral—adding fuel to the debate around the tour’s optics.
Before the launch of the national campaign, Sanders had already been outspoken about the growing influence of billionaires in American politics. From the Senate floor, he lambasted Elon Musk and other ultra-wealthy individuals as “modern-day kings who believe they have the absolute right to rule.”
