Bernard "Bernie" Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist serving as theseniorUnited States senator fromVermont, a seat he has held since 2007. He is the longest-servingindependent in U.S. congressional history, but maintains a close relationship with theDemocratic Party, havingcaucused withHouse andSenate Democrats for most of his congressional career and sought the party's presidential nomination in2016 and2020. Sanders has been viewed as one of the main leaders of the modern Americanprogressive movement.
Bernard Sanders was born on September 8, 1941, in the New York City borough ofBrooklyn.[9] His father, Elias Ben Yehuda Sanders,[10] a Polish-Jewish immigrant, was born inSłopnice, a town inAustrian Galicia that was then part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire and is now inPoland.[11] Elias Sanders immigrated to the United States in 1921[12] and became a paint salesman.[11][13] Bernie's mother, Dorothy Sanders (née Glassberg), was born in New York City.[14][15] He is the younger brother ofLarry Sanders.
Sanders says he became interested in politics at an early age due to his family background.[16] In the 1940s, many of his relatives in German-occupied Poland were murdered inthe Holocaust.[10][12][15][17]
Sanders lived inMidwood, Brooklyn.[9] He attended elementary school atP.S. 197, where he won a borough championship on the basketball team.[18][19] He attended Hebrew school in the afternoons and celebrated hisbar mitzvah in 1954.[20] His older brotherLarry said that during their childhood, the family never lacked food or clothing, but major purchases, "like curtains or a rug", were not affordable.[21]
Sanders attendedJames Madison High School, where he was captain of the track team and took third place in the New York City indoor one-mile race.[18] In high school, he lost his first election, finishing last of three candidates for the student body presidency with a campaign that focused on aidingKorean War orphans. Despite the loss, he became active in his school's fundraising activities for Korean orphans, including organizing a charity basketball game.[22] Sanders attended high school with economistWalter Block.[23] When he was 19, his mother died at age 47.[15][20] His father died two years later, in 1962, at age 57.
Sanders studied atBrooklyn College for a year in 1959–1960 before transferring to theUniversity of Chicago and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1964.[24] In later interviews, Sanders described himself as a mediocre college student because the classroom was "boring and irrelevant" and said he viewed community activism as more important to his education.[25]
University of Chicago PresidentGeorge Beadle and Sanders at the CORE meeting on housing sit-ins inIda Noyes Hall, February 1962.
Sanders later described his time in Chicago as "the major period of intellectual ferment in my life."[26] While there, he joined theYoung People's Socialist League (the youth affiliate of theSocialist Party of America)[27] and was active in thecivil rights movement as a student for theCongress of Racial Equality (CORE) and theStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).[15][28] Under his chairmanship, the university chapter of CORE merged with the university chapter of the SNCC.[29] In January 1962, he went to a rally at theUniversity of Chicago administration building to protest university presidentGeorge Wells Beadle'ssegregated campus housing policy. At the protest, Sanders said, "We feel it is an intolerable situation when Negro and white students of the university cannot live together in university-owned apartments." He and 32 other students then entered the building and camped outside the president's office.[30][31] After weeks of sit-ins, Beadle and the university formed a commission to investigate discrimination.[32] After further protests, the University of Chicago ended racial segregation in private university housing in the summer of 1963.[26]
Joan Mahoney, a member of the University of Chicago CORE chapter at the time and a fellow participant in the sit-ins, described Sanders in a 2016 interview as "a swell guy, a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn, but he wasn't terribly charismatic. One of his strengths, though, was his ability to work with a wide group of people, even those he didn't agree with."[33] Sanders once spent a day putting up fliers protestingpolice brutality, only to notice later that Chicago police had shadowed him and taken them all down.[30] He attended the 1963March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, whereMartin Luther King Jr. gave the "I Have a Dream" speech.[15][30][34] That summer, Sanders was fined $25 (equivalent to $257 in 2024) for resisting arrest during a demonstration inEnglewood againstsegregation in Chicago's public schools.[26][35][36]
In addition to his civil rights activism during the 1960s and 1970s,[29] Sanders was active in severalpeace and antiwar movements while attending the University of Chicago, becoming a member of theStudent Peace Union. He applied forconscientious objector status during the Vietnam War; his application was eventually turned down, by which point he was too old to bedrafted. Although he opposed the war, Sanders never criticized those who fought in it and has strongly supportedveterans' benefits throughout his political career.[37][38] He was briefly an organizer with theUnited Packinghouse Workers of America while in Chicago.[26] He also worked on the reelection campaign ofLeon Despres, a prominent Chicago alderman who opposed then-mayorRichard J. Daley'sDemocratic Party machine. Sanders said that he spent much of his student years reading history, sociology, psychology, and the works of political authors, fromThomas Jefferson,Abraham Lincoln,John Dewey,Karl Marx, andErich Fromm—"reading everything except what I was supposed to read for class the next day."[3][39]
Professional history and early years in Vermont
After graduating from college, Sanders returned to New York City, where he worked various jobs, including Head Start teacher,psychiatric aide, and carpenter.[25] In 1968, he moved toStannard, Vermont, a town small in both area and population (88 residents at the1970 census) within Vermont's ruralNortheast Kingdom region, because he had been "captivated by rural life". While there, he worked as a carpenter,[27] filmmaker, and writer[40] who created and sold "radical film strips" and other educational materials to schools.[41] He also wrote several articles for the alternative publicationThe Vermont Freeman.[42] He lived in the area for several years before moving to the more populousChittenden County in the mid-1970s. During his2018 reelection campaign, he returned to the town to hold an event with voters and other candidates.[43]
From 1969 to 1971, Sanders resided inMontpelier.[44] After moving toBurlington,[45] he began his electoral political career as a member of theLiberty Union Party, a national umbrella party for various socialist-oriented state parties, originating in theanti-war movement and thePeople's Party. He ran as the Liberty Union candidate for governor of Vermont in1972 and1976 and as a candidate in the special election for US senator in1972 and in the general election in1974.[46] In the 1974 senatorial race, he finished third (5,901 votes; 4%), behind 34-year-oldChittenden County state's attorneyPatrick Leahy (D; 70,629 votes; 49%) and two-term incumbent US RepresentativeDick Mallary (R; 66,223 votes; 46%).[47][48]
In 1971, while researching an article for Liberty Union's newspaperMovement, Sanders stayed at Myrtle Hill Farm, a Vermontback to the land commune.[49][50] He was asked to leave after three days for failing to contribute physical labor expected of all members.[51] Some residents complained that Sanders spent his time engaging others in political discussions, distracting them from their work, with one member claiming the only way "any work was going to get accomplished" was if people were pulled out of Sanders's orbit.[49][51]
The 1976 campaign was the zenith of the Liberty Union's influence, with Sanders collecting 11,317 votes for governor and the party. His strong performance forced the down-ballot races for lieutenant governor and secretary of state to be decided by the state legislature when its vote total prevented either theRepublican orDemocratic candidate for those offices from garnering a majority of votes.[52] But the campaign drained the Liberty Union's finances and energy, and in October 1977, Sanders and the Liberty Union candidate for attorney general, Nancy Kaufman, announced their retirement from the party.[52][53] During the1980 presidential election, Sanders was one of three electors for theSocialist Workers Party in Vermont.[54]
After resigning from the Liberty Union Party in 1977, Sanders worked as a writer and as the director of the nonprofit American People's Historical Society (APHS).[55] While with the APHS, he produced a 30-minute documentary about American labor leaderEugene V. Debs, who ran for president five times as the Socialist Party candidate.[27][56]
On November 8, 1980, Sanders announced his candidacy for mayor. He formally announced his campaign on December 16 at a City Hall press conference.[57][58] Sanders selected Linda Niedweske as his campaign manager.[59] TheCitizens Party attempted to nominate Greg Guma for mayor, but Guma declined, saying it would be "difficult to run against another progressive candidate".[60] Sanders had been convinced to run for the mayoralty by his close friendRichard Sugarman, an Orthodox Jewish professor of religious studies at theUniversity of Vermont, who had shown him a ward-by-ward breakdown of the1976 Vermont gubernatorial election, in which Sanders had run, that showed him receiving 12% of the vote in Burlington despite only getting 6% statewide.[61]
Sanders initially won the mayoral election by 22 votes against incumbent mayor Gordon Paquette, Richard Bove, and Joseph McGrath, but the margin was later reduced to 10 votes. Paquette did not contest the results of the recount.[62]
Paquette's loss was attributed to his own shortcomings, as he did not campaign or promote his candidacy since neither Sanders nor Bove was seen as a serious challenger. Sanders had not previously won an election.[63] Paquette was also considered to have lost because he proposed an unpopular $0.65 per $100 raise in taxes that Sanders opposed.[64] Sanders spent around $4,000 on his campaign.[65]
Sanders castigated the pro-development incumbent as an ally of prominent shopping center developer Antonio Pomerleau, while Paquette warned of ruin for Burlington if Sanders were elected. The Sanders campaign was bolstered by a wave of optimistic volunteers as well as a series of endorsements from university professors, social welfare agencies, and the police union. The result shocked the local political establishment.[52]
Sanders formed a coalition between independents and the Citizens Party.[66] On December 3, 1982, he announced that he would seek reelection.[67] On January 22, 1983, the Citizens Party voted unanimously to endorse Sanders, although Sanders ran as an independent.[68] He was reelected, defeatingJudy Stephany and James Gilson.[69]
Sanders initially considered not seeking a third term but announced on December 5, 1984, that he would run.[70] He formally launched his campaign on December 7 and was reelected.[71][72] On December 1, 1986, Sanders, who had finished third in the1986 Vermont gubernatorial election, announced that he would seek reelection to a fourth term as mayor of Burlington, despite close associates saying that he was tired of being mayor.[73] Sanders defeated Democratic nominee Paul Lafayette in the election.[74] He said he would not seek another mayoral term after the 1987 election: "eight years is enough and I think it is time for new leadership, which does exist within the coalition, to come up".[75]
During his mayoralty, Sanders called himself asocialist and was described as such in the press.[77][78] During his first term, his supporters, including the firstCitizens Party city councilorTerry Bouricius, formed the Progressive Coalition, the forerunner of theVermont Progressive Party.[79] The Progressives never held more than six seats on the 13-member city council, but they had enough to keep the council from overriding Sanders's vetoes. Under his leadership, Burlington balanced its city budget; attracted a minor league baseball team, theVermont Reds, then theDouble-A affiliate of theCincinnati Reds;[15] became the first US city to fundcommunity-trust housing;[80] and successfully sued the localcable television franchise, thereby winning reduced rates for customers.[15]
As mayor, Sanders also led extensivedowntown revitalization projects. One of his primary achievements was improving Burlington'sLake Champlain waterfront.[15] In 1981, he campaigned against the unpopular plans by Burlington developer Tony Pomerleau to convert the then-industrial[81] waterfront property owned by theCentral Vermont Railway into expensive condominiums, hotels, and offices.[82] He ran under the slogan "Burlington is not for sale" and successfully supported a plan that redeveloped the waterfront area into amixed-use district featuring housing, parks, and public spaces.[82]
Sanders was a consistentcritic of US foreign policy in Latin America throughout the 1980s.[83] In 1985, Burlington City Hall hosted a foreign policy speech byNoam Chomsky. In his introduction, he praised Chomsky as "a very vocal and important voice in the wilderness of intellectual life in America" and said that he was "delighted to welcome a person who I think we're all very proud of".[84][85]
Sanders hosted and produced apublic-access television program,Bernie Speaks with the Community, from 1986 to 1988.[86][87] He collaborated with 30 Vermont musicians to record a folk album,We Shall Overcome, in 1987.[88][89] That same year,US News & World Report ranked Sanders one of America's best mayors.[90][91] As of 2013[update], Burlington was regarded as one of the most livable cities in the United States.[92][93]
During a trip to theSoviet Union in 1988, Sanders interviewed the mayor of Burlington's sister cityYaroslavl about housing and health care issues in the two cities.[94][95]
When Sanders left office in 1989, Bouricius, a member of the Burlington city council, said that Sanders had "changed the entire nature of politics in Burlington and also in the state of Vermont".[96]
Sanders's first congressional portrait photograph, 1991
Elections
In 1988, incumbent Republican congressmanJim Jeffords decided to run for the U.S. Senate, vacating the House seat representingVermont's at-large congressional district. Formerlieutenant governorPeter P. Smith won the House election with a plurality, securing 41% of the vote. Sanders, who ran as an independent, placed second with 38% of the vote, while Democratic state representativePaul N. Poirier placed third with 19%.[97] Two years later, he ran for the seat again and defeated Smith by a margin of 56% to 39%.[98]Sanders was the first independent elected to the US House of Representatives sinceFrazier Reams ofOhio won his second term in 1952,[99] as well as the first socialist elected to the House sinceVito Marcantonio, from theAmerican Labor Party, who won his last term in 1948.[100][99] Sanders was a representative from 1991 until he became a senator in 2007, winning reelection by large margins except during the 1994Republican Revolution, when he won by 3%, with 50% of the vote.[101]
Legislation
Sanders meeting in 1993 with Hillary Clinton to discussher plan to reform the healthcare system
During his first year in the House, Sanders often alienated allies and colleagues with his criticism of both political parties asworking primarily on behalf of the wealthy. In 1991, he co-founded theCongressional Progressive Caucus, a group of mostly liberal Democrats that he chaired for its first eight years,[15] while still refusing to join the Democratic Party or caucus.[102]
In 2005,Rolling Stone called Sanders the "amendment king" for his ability to get more roll call amendments passed than any other congressman during the period since 1995, when Congress was entirely under Republican control. Being an independent allowed him to form coalitions across party lines.[103]
Banking reform
In 1999, Sanders voted and advocated against rolling back theGlass–Steagall legislation provisions that keptinvestment banks and commercial banks separate entities.[104] He was a vocal critic ofFederal Reserve chairAlan Greenspan; in June 2003, during a question-and-answer discussion, Sanders told him he was concerned that he was "way out of touch" and "that you see your major function in your position as the need to represent the wealthy and large corporations."[105][106][107][108]
Cancer registries
Concerned by high breast cancer rates in Vermont, on February 7, 1992, Sanders sponsored the Cancer Registries Amendment Act to establishcancer registries to collect data on cancer.[109][110] Senator Patrick Leahy introduced a companion bill in the Senate on October 2, 1992. The Senate bill was passed by the House on October 6 and signed into law by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush on October 24, 1992.[111]
Firearms and criminal justice
In 1993, Sanders voted against theBrady Bill, which mandated federal background checks when buying guns and imposed a waiting period on firearm purchasers in the United States; the bill passed by a vote of 238–187.[112][113] He voted against the bill four more times in the 1990s, explaining that his Vermont constituents saw waiting-period mandates as more appropriately a state rather than a federal matter.[114]
Sanders did vote for other gun-control measures.[115][112] For example, in 1994, he voted for theViolent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act "because it included theViolence Against Women Act and the ban on certain assault weapons." He was nevertheless critical of the other parts of the bill.[116][117] Although he acknowledged that "clearly, there are some people in our society who are horribly violent, who are deeply sick andsociopathic, and clearly these people must be put behind bars in order to protect society from them", he maintained that governmental policies played a large part in "dooming tens of millions of young people to a future of bitterness, misery, hopelessness, drugs, crime, and violence" and argued that the repressive policies introduced by the bill were not addressing the causes of violence, saying, "we can create meaningful jobs, rebuilding our society, or we can build more jails."[118]
Sanders has at times favored stronger law enforcement and sentencing. In 1996, he voted against a bill that would have prohibited police from purchasing tanks and armored carriers.[119][120] In 1998, he voted for a bill that would have increased minimum sentencing for possessing a gun while committing a federal crime to ten years in prison, including nonviolent crimes such asmarijuana possession.[119][112][121]
In 2005, Sanders voted for theProtection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.[122] The purpose of the act was to prevent firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable for negligence when crimes have been committed with their products.[123] As of 2016[update], he said that he has since changed his position and would vote for legislation to defeat this bill.[124]
Opposition to the Patriot Act
Sanders was a consistent critic of thePatriot Act.[125] As a member of Congress, he voted against the original Patriot Act legislation.[126] After its 357–66 passage in the House, he sponsored and voted for several subsequent amendments and acts attempting to curtail its effects[127] and voted against each reauthorization.[128] In June 2005, he proposed an amendment to limit Patriot Act provisions that allow the government to obtain individuals' library and book-buying records. The amendment passed the House by a bipartisan majority but was removed on November4 of that year in House–Senate negotiations and never became law.[129]
Opposition to the War in Iraq
Sanders meeting with students at Milton High School in Milton, Vermont, 2004
In February 2005, Sanders introduced a bill that would have withdrawn thepermanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status that had been extended to China in October 2000. He said to the House, "Anyone who takes an objective look at our trade policy with China must conclude that it is an absolute failure and needs to be fundamentally overhauled", citing the American jobs being lost to overseas competitors. His bill received 71 co-sponsors but was not sent to the floor for a vote.[134][135]
Sanders entered the race for the U.S. Senate on April 21, 2005, after SenatorJim Jeffords announced that he would not seek a fourth term.Chuck Schumer, chair of theDemocratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and fellowJames Madison High School alumnus, endorsed Sanders. This was a critical move because it meant no Democrat running against him could expect financial help from the party. He was also endorsed bySenate minority leaderHarry Reid andDemocratic National Committee chair and former Vermont governorHoward Dean. Dean said in May 2005 that he considered Sanders an ally who "votes with the Democrats 98% of the time."[136] Then-SenatorBarack Obama also campaigned for him in Vermont in March 2006.[137] Sanders entered into an agreement with the Democratic Party, much as he had as a congressman, to be listed in their primary but to decline the nomination should he win, which he did.[138][139]
Sanders being sworn in for his second term in 2013 by Joe Biden
In the most expensive political campaign in Vermont's history,[140] Sanders defeated businessmanRich Tarrant by an almost 2-to-1 margin. Many national media outlets projected him as the winner just after the polls closed, before any returns came in.
On May 6, 2024, Sanders announced his candidacy for a fourth Senate term.[143][144][145] A poll just a few weeks earlier found that more than half of respondents wanted him to seek reelection.[146] Sanders faced Republican nominee Gerald Malloy, who ran against SenatorPeter Welch in 2022.[147] Sanders was reelected and has said this term will likely be his last.[148][1]
Legislation
While a member of Congress, Sanders sponsored 15 concurrent resolutions and 15 Senate resolutions.[149] Of those he co-sponsored, 218 became law.[150][151] While he has consistently advocated for progressive causes,Politico wrote that he has "rarely forged actual legislation or left a significant imprint on it."[152] According toThe New York Times, "Big legislation largely eludes Mr. Sanders because his ideas are usually far to the left of the majority of the Senate ... Mr. Sanders has largely found ways to press his agenda through appending small provisions to the larger bills of others."[153] During his time in the Senate, he had lower legislative effectiveness than the average senator, as measured by the number of sponsored bills that passed and successful amendments made.[154] Nevertheless, he has sponsored over 500 amendments to bills,[155] many of which became law. The results of these amendments include a ban on imported goods made by child labor; $100 million in funding for community health centers; $10 million for an outreach program for servicemembers who havepost-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, depression, panic attacks, and other mental disorders; a public database of seniorDepartment of Defense officials seeking employment with defense contractors; and including autism treatment under the military healthcare programTricare.[156]
In August 2022, Sanders voted for theInflation Reduction Act of 2022.[157] He was not satisfied with the bill, calling it only a small step forward. Sanders joined with Democrats to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which capped the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare to $35 a month and allowed Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.[158]
Finance and monetary policy
In 2008 and 2009, Sanders voted against theTroubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a program to purchase toxic banking assets and provide loans to banks that were in free-fall.[159][160] On February 4, 2009, he sponsored an amendment to ensure that TARP funds would not displace US workers. The amendment passed and was added to theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.[156][161] Among his proposed financial reforms isauditing the Federal Reserve, which would reduce its independence in monetary policy deliberations; Federal Reserve officials say that "Audit the Fed" legislation would expose the Federal Reserve to undue political pressure from lawmakers who do not like its decisions.[162][163][164]
Sanders spoke for more than eight hours in his December 2010filibuster.
On June 12, 2017, U.S. senators agreed to legislation imposingnew sanctions on Russia andIran.[171] The bill was opposed only by Sanders and RepublicanRand Paul.[172] He supported the sanctions on Russia, but voted against the bill because he believed the sanctions could endanger theIran nuclear deal.[173]
In 2018, Sanders sponsored a bill and was joined by senatorsChris Murphy (D–CT) andMike Lee (R–UT) to invoke the1973 War Powers Resolution to end US support for theSaudi-led military intervention in Yemen,[174] which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties[175] and "millions more suffering from starvation and disease".[176][177] After theassassination of Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 (which was ordered by Saudi Arabiancrown princeMohammad bin Salman, according to multiple intelligence agencies),[174][175][176][178] his bill attracted bipartisan co-sponsors and support, and the Senate passed it by a vote of 56–41.[179] The bill passed the House in February 2019 by a 247–175 vote and President Trump vetoed it in March, saying: "This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future."[180]
During theGaza war, Sanders introduced severalJoint Resolutions of Disapproval to block arms to Israel. All failed, but some Democrats voted for them. In November 2024, one such resolution garnered support from 18 senators. In April 2025, 15 senators supported another. In July 2025, 27 senators supported a resolution, a majority of Senate Democrats.[181]
In mid-December 2009, Sanders successfully added a provision to theAffordable Care Act to fund $11 billion tocommunity health centers, especially those inrural areas. The provision brought together Democrats on the left with Democrats from conservative, rural areas, helping to secure the 60 votes needed for passage.[156] On May 4, 2017, in response to the House vote torepeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, he predicted "thousands of Americans would die" from no longer having access to health care.[182]PolitiFact rated his statement "mostly true".[183]
In September 2017, Sanders along with 15 Senate co-sponsors submitted the Medicare for All bill, asingle-payer healthcare plan. The bill covers vision and dental care, unlike Medicare. Some Republicans have called the bill "Berniecare" and "the latest Democratic push for socialized medicine and higher taxes." He responded that the Republican Party has no credibility on the issue of health care after voting for legislation that would take health insurance away from 32 million Americans under theAffordable Care Act.[184]
As chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, Sanders introduced legislation in 2013 to reauthorize and strengthen theOlder Americans Act, which supportsMeals on Wheels and other programs for seniors.[185]
Immigration policy
In 2007, Sanders helped kill a bill introducing comprehensive immigration reform, arguing that its guest-worker program would depress wages for American workers.[186] In 2010, he supported theDREAM Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the United States as minors.[186] In 2013, he supported theGang of Eight's comprehensive immigration reform bill after securing a $1.5 billion youth jobs program provision, which he argued would offset the harm of labor market competition with immigrants.[186] In a March 2025 interview, Sanders said that Biden failed to properly curb illegal immigration and commended Trump for strengthening border immigration policies, adding, "nobody thinks illegal immigration is appropriate", while also criticizing mass deportations and calling for comprehensive immigration reform.[187]
In April 2017, Sanders introduced a bill that would raise theminimum wage for federal contract workers to $15 an hour, an increase over an earlier Democratic $12 an hour proposal.[188] On May 9, 2018, he introduced theWorkplace Democracy Act, a bill that would expand labor rights by making it easier for workers to join a union, banright-to-work laws and some anti-union provisions of theTaft–Hartley Act, and outlaw some union-busting tactics. Announcing the legislation, he said, "If we are serious about reducing income and wealth inequality and rebuilding the middle class, we have got to substantially increase the number of union jobs in this country."[189]
Sanders opposed the2018 United States federal budget proposed by theTrump administration, calling it "a budget for the billionaire class, for Wall Street, for corporate CEOs, and for the wealthiest people in this country ... nothing less than a massive transfer of wealth from working families, the elderly, children, the sick and the poor to the top 1%."[190]
After the November 2017 revelations from theParadise Papers and a recent report from theInstitute for Policy Studies which says just three people (Jeff Bezos,Bill Gates, andWarren Buffett) own morewealth than the bottom half of the US population, Sanders stated that "we must end globaloligarchy" and that "we need, in the United States and throughout the world, a tax system which is fair, progressive and transparent."[191]
On September 5, 2018, Sanders partnered withRo Khanna to introduce the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies (StopBEZOS) Act, which would require large corporations to pay for the food stamps and Medicaid benefits that their employees receive, relieving the burden on taxpayers.[192][193]
On March 17, 2016, Sanders said he would supportMerrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court, though he added, "there are some more progressive judges out there."[197] He opposedNeil Gorsuch's nomination to the court, saying that Gorsuch had "refused to answer legitimate questions".[198] He also objected to Senate Republicans' use of thenuclear option to "choke off debate and ram [Gorsuch's] nomination through the Senate".[198] He voted against Gorsuch's confirmation as anassociate justice and against Trump's nomineesBrett Kavanaugh andAmy Coney Barrett.[199][200][201] In 2022, Sanders voted to confirm Joe Biden'snomineeKetanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.[202]
Committee assignments
As an independent, Sanders maintains an agreement with the Senate Democratic leadership where he votes with the Democrats on all procedural matters unless the Democraticwhip,Dick Durbin, agrees that he need not (a request rarely made or granted). In return he was allowed to keep his seniority and received the committee seats that would have been available to him as a Democrat; in 2013–14 he was chairman of theUnited States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs (during theVeterans Health Administration scandal).[203][204]
Sanders was only the third senator from Vermont to caucus with the Democrats, after Jeffords and Leahy. His caucusing with the Democrats gave them a 51–49 majority in the Senate during the110th Congress in 2007–08. The Democrats needed 51 seats to control the Senate because Vice PresidentDick Cheney would likely have broken potentialties in favor of the Republicans.[207] He is a member of the following caucuses:
Polling conducted in August 2011 byPublic Policy Polling found that Sanders's approval rating was 67% and his disapproval rating 28%, making him then the third-most popular US senator.[210] Both theNAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and theNHLA (National Hispanic Leadership Agenda) have given him 100% voting scores during his tenure in the Senate.[211] In 2015, he was named one of the Top5 ofThe Forward 50.[212] In a November 2015Morning Consult poll, he reached an 83% approval rating among his constituents, making him the most popular US senator.[213]Fox News found him to have the highest net favorability at +28 points of any prominent politician included in its March 2017 poll.[214] He ranked third in 2014 and first in both 2015 and 2016.[213][210][215]
In April 2017, a nationwide Harvard-Harris Poll found that Sanders had the highest favorability rating among all the political figures included in the poll,[216] a standing confirmed by subsequent polling.[217]
Sanders rally in Portland, Oregon, August 2015Sanders speaking atRutgers University in May 2016
During the2012 Democratic presidential primaries, Sanders—dissatisfied with President Obama's "attempts to tradeSocial Security cuts for tax hikes"—reportedly considered running against him in the primaries. Sanders had previously suggested in 2011 that it was "a good idea" for someone to challenge Obama and "got so close to running a primary challenge ... that SenatorHarry Reid had to intervene to stop him."[218] In November 2013, Sanders suggested that SenatorElizabeth Warren could be president and that she might earn his backing if she ran. He added that if no progressive candidate ran, he might feel compelled to do so himself.[219][220] In December 2014, Warren said she was not running.[221]
Sanders announced his intention to seek theDemocratic Party's nomination for president on April 30, 2015.[222][223][224][225]His campaign was officially launched on May 26 in Burlington.[224] In his announcement, Sanders said, "I don't believe that the men and women who defended American democracy fought to create a situation where billionaires own the political process" and made this a central idea throughout his campaign.[223][224]
Warren welcomed Sanders's entry into the race, saying, "I'm glad to see him get out there and give his version of what leadership in this country should be", but never endorsed him.[226][227]
Initially considered a long shot, Sanders won 23primaries and caucuses and around 46% of pledged delegates toHillary Clinton's 54%. His campaign was noted for its supporters' enthusiasm, as well as for rejecting large donations from corporations, the financial industry, and any associatedSuper PAC. Some of theDemocratic National Committee (DNC) emails leaked to the public in June and July 2016 showed that the committee leadership had favored Clinton over him and had worked to help Clinton win the nomination.[228]
On July 12, 2016, Sanders formally endorsed Clintonin her unsuccessful general election campaign againstRepublicanDonald Trump, while urging his supporters to continue the "political revolution" his campaign had begun.[229] Following his endorsement, Sanders spent weeks campaigning for Clinton,[230] holding 39 rallies in 13 states during the final three months before the 2016 election.[231]
Campaign methods
Unlike the other major candidates, Sanders did not pursue funding through aSuper PAC or from wealthy donors, instead focusing on small-dollar donations.[232] His presidential campaign raised $1.5 million within 24 hours of his official announcement.[233] At the end of the year, the campaign had raised a total of $73 million from more than one million people, making 2.5 million donations, with an average donation of $27.16.[234] The campaign reached 3.25 million donations by the end of January 2016, raising $20 million in that month alone.[235]
Sanders used social media to help his campaign gain momentum,[236] posting content to online platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and answering questions onReddit. He gained a large grassroots organizational following online. A July 29, 2015, meetup organized online brought 100,000 supporters to more than 3,500 simultaneous events nationwide.[237]
To his surprise, Sanders's June 2015 campaign events drew overflow crowds across the country.[238][239][240] When Clinton and Sanders made public appearances within days of each other inDes Moines, Iowa, he drew larger crowds, even though he had already made many stops around the state and Clinton's visit was her first in 2015.[241] On July 1, 2015, his campaign stop inMadison, Wisconsin, drew the largest crowd of any 2016 presidential candidate to that date, with an estimated turnout of 10,000.[242][243] Over the following weeks, he drew even larger crowds: 11,000 inPhoenix;[244] 15,000 inSeattle;[245] and 28,000 inPortland, Oregon.[246]
TheDemocratic National Committee (DNC) announced in May 2015 that there would be six debates. Critics alleged that the small number of debates and the schedule, with half of the debates on Saturday or Sunday nights, were part of the DNC's deliberate attempt to protect Clinton, who was perceived as the front-runner.[247] In February 2016, both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns agreed in principle to holding four more debates for a total of ten.[248] Clinton dropped out of the tenth debate, scheduled to take place just before theCalifornia primary, citing a need to devote her time to making direct contact with California voters and preparing for the general election.[249] Sanders expressed disappointment that Clinton canceled the debate before what he believed would be "the largest and most important primary in the presidential nominating process."[250]
Some Sanders supporters raised concerns that publications such asThe New York Times minimized coverage of the Sanders campaign in favor of other candidates, especially Trump and Clinton. TheTimes'ombudsman reviewed her paper's coverage of the Sanders campaign and found that as of September 2015[update] theTimes "hasn't always taken it very seriously. The tone of some stories is regrettably dismissive, even mocking at times. Some of that is focused on the candidate's age, appearance and style, rather than what he has to say." She also found that theTimes's coverage of Sanders's campaign was much scanter than its coverage of Trump's, though Trump's was also initially considered a long shot at that time, with 63 articles covering the Trump campaign and 14 covering Sanders's.[251][252] A December 2015 report found that the three major networks—CBS,NBC, andABC—had spent 234 minutes reporting on Trump and 10 minutes on Sanders, despite their similar polling results. The report noted thatABC World News Tonight had spent 81 minutes on Trump and less than one minute on Sanders during 2015.[253]
A study of media coverage in the 2016 election concluded that while Sanders received less coverage than his rival Hillary Clinton, the amount of coverage of Sanders during the election was largely consistent with his polling performance, except during 2015 when Sanders received coverage that far exceeded his standing in the polls.[254] Studies concluded that the tone of media coverage of Sanders was more favorable than that of any other candidate, whereas his main opponent in the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton, received the most negative coverage of any candidate.[255][254] All 2016 candidates received vastly less media coverage than Donald Trump, and the Democratic primary received substantially less coverage than the Republican primary.[254][255][256]
Amy Goodman ofDemocracy Now! noted that on March 15,Super Tuesday III, the speeches of Trump, Clinton,Marco Rubio, andTed Cruz were broadcast in full. Sanders was in Phoenix, Arizona, on that date, speaking to a rally larger than any of the others, yet his speech was not mentioned, let alone broadcast.[257] However, political scientistRachel Bitecofer wrote in her 2018 book about the 2016 election that the Democratic primary was effectively over in terms of delegate count by mid-March 2016, but that the media promoted the narrative that the contest between Sanders and Clinton was "heating up" at that time.[256]
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted in May 2016 found Clinton and Trump (by then the presumptive Republican nominee) in a "dead heat", but the same poll found that if Sanders were the Democratic nominee, 53% of voters would support him to 39% for Trump.[258] Clinton and Trump were the least popular likely candidates ever polled, while Sanders received a 43% positive, 36% negative rating.[259] Polls showed that Democratic voters older than 50 preferred Clinton by a large margin but that those under 50 overwhelmingly favored Sanders.[260] A 2017 analysis inNewsweek found that 12% of those who voted for Sanders in the Democratic primary voted for Trump in the general election,[261] a lower proportion than that of Clinton supporters in2008 who voted forJohn McCain.[262][263]
In July 2016, a leak of the Democratic National Committee's emails appeared to show DNC officials favoring Clinton over Sanders. Staff repeatedly discussed making his irreligious tendencies a potential campaign issue in southern states and questioned his party loyalty. DNC chairDebbie Wasserman Schultz called his campaign manager "anass" and "a damn liar".[264] Speaking withJake Tapper onCNN, Sanders responded to the leak, saying, "it is an outrage and sad that you would have people in important positions in the DNC trying to undermine my campaign. It goes without saying: the function of the DNC is to represent all of the candidates—to be fair and even-minded. But again, we discussed this many, many months ago, on this show, so what is revealed now is not a shock to me."[265]
After the final primary election, Clinton became the presumptive Democratic nominee.[266] On July 12, Sanders formallyendorsed Clinton.[229] He said he would continue to work with the Democratic National Convention organizers to implement progressive positions. Sanders refused to formally concede before the convention.[267] He spoke at the2016 Democratic National Convention on July 25, during which he gave Clinton his full support. Some of his supporters attempted to protest Clinton's nomination and booed when Sanders called for party unity. He responded, "Our job is to do two things: to defeat Donald Trump and to elect Hillary Clinton... It is easy to boo, but it is harder to look your kids in the face if we are living under aTrump presidency."[268]
On November 8, in the general election, Sanders received almost 6% of the vote inVermont, even though he was no longer a candidate. This was the highest share of a statewide presidential vote for awrite-indraft campaign in American history.[269] He also received more votes in Vermont thanGary Johnson, theLibertarian candidate, andJill Stein, theGreen candidate, combined.[270] It was possible to vote for Sanders as a write-in candidate in 12 states,[271] and exact totals of write-in votes for him were published in three of them:California,[272]New Hampshire,[273] andVermont.[270] In those three states, he received 111,850 write-in votes, about 15% of the write-in votes nationwide, and less than 1% of total nationwide vote.[271]
In February 2018, Special CounselRobert Mueller's investigation intoRussian interference in the 2016 US elections concluded that Russians had communicated false information during the primary campaigns to help Sanders and Stein and harm Clinton.[279] Sanders rejected the investigation's conclusion, saying that he had seen no evidence that Russians had helped his campaign.[280] Furthermore, he questioned the Clinton campaign's lack of action to prevent Russian interference.[280] He later said that his campaign had taken action to prevent Russian meddling in the election and that a campaign staffer had alerted the Clinton campaign.[281]Politico noted that a Sanders campaign volunteer contacted apolitical action committee (PAC) that supported the Clinton campaign to report suspicious activities but that the Sanders campaign did not contact the Clinton campaign as such.[281]
Analysts have suggested that Sanders's campaign shifted both the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Partypolitically leftward. A newpolitical organization,Brand New Congress, was formed in April 2016 by former campaign staffers. It works to elect congressional representatives with platforms in line with Sanders.[285] In August 2016, he formedOur Revolution, apolitical organization dedicated to educating voters about issues, getting people involved in the political process, and electing progressive candidates for local, state, and national office.[286][287] Speaking on thePBS Newshour about the upcoming 2018 elections and discussing the main principles of the two major parties,Susan Page described the Republican Party as "Trump's party" and the Democratic Party as "Bernie Sanders's party", saying that "Sanders and his more progressive stance has really taken hold."[288] Noting the increasing acceptance of his national single-payer health-care program, his $15-an-hour minimum wage stance, free college tuition, and many of the other campaign platform issues he introduced,[289][290] an April 2018 opinion article inThe Week suggested, "Quietly but steadily, the Democratic Party is admitting that Sanders was right."[291] In July 2016, aSlate article called the Democratic platform draft "a monument to his campaign", noting not only his call for a $15 minimum wage but other campaign issues, such as Social Security expansion, acarbon tax, Wall Street reform, opposition to the death penalty, and a "reasoned pathway for future legalization" of marijuana.[292]
On February 19, 2019, Sanders announced that he would seek the Democratic Party's 2020 nomination for president.[294] He had declined theVermont Democratic Party nomination for U.S. Senate in 2006, 2012, and 2018, which caused an unsuccessful legal challenge to his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. Along with his 2019 campaign announcement, he said he would abide by a new Democratic Party rule for presidential candidates and that he would affirm his membership in that party.[295] On March 5, 2019, he signed a formal statement, known as a "loyalty pledge", that he is a member of the Democratic Party and will serve as a Democrat if elected. News reports noted that the day before, he had signed paperwork to run as an independent for reelection to his Senate seat in 2024.[296]
Given the high national profile that Sanders maintained since his 2016 campaign,NPR described him as "no longer an underdog" when he announced his 2020 campaign.[299] Using the large email list it built during the 2016 campaign, the 2020 campaign recruited more than one million volunteers within weeks of its launch. It enlisted several formerNowThis News employees to produce professional videos for wide social media distribution, live-streamed various forums to its millions of social media followers, and launched apodcast and smartphone app for grassroots organizing.[300]
Fundraising
Sanders's 2020 campaign employed many of the same methods as its 2016 counterpart, eschewing aSuper PAC and relying predominantly on small-dollar contributions. According toFederal Election Commission filings, the Sanders campaign had raised the most money in the 2020 Democratic field as of June 2019, including money left over from his 2018 Senate and 2016 presidential races.[301][302][303] In September 2019, the Sanders campaign became the fastest in US history to reach one million donors.[304] On October 1, 2019, the campaign announced it had raised $25.3 million in the year's third quarter, with an average donation of $18. It was the largest quarterly sum raised by any Democratic candidate.[305][306] The campaign raised $34.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2019.[307]
Sanders steadily polled between 15% and 20% on most national surveys between May and September 2019, according to theRealClearPolitics average. This placed him in a decisive second-place behindJoe Biden untilElizabeth Warren andKamala Harris caught up in July.[308] From mid-February 2020 to the start of March, Sanders polled in first place in the Democratic primary ahead of Joe Biden[309][308] and was described by the press as the party's presidential front-runner.[310][311][312][313]
According to aRealClearPolitics analysis, Sanders received the third-most mentions onCNN,Fox News, andMSNBC between January and August 2019, trailing onlyJoe Biden andKamala Harris. Biden, however, received twice as many mentions as Sanders and Harris. Mentions of Sanders onABC World News Tonight found him in second place, though also trailing Biden by a large margin. Online mentions "reflect a slightly more balanced picture", with both Sanders andElizabeth Warren running "neck-and-neck" with Biden.[314]
On April 6, 2019, Sanders participated in aFox News town hall that attracted more than 2.55 million viewers.[315][316] His decision to appear on Fox was controversial, given theDemocratic National Committee's decision not to allow Fox to host any of its debates.[317][318] His appearance saw an increase of Fox News viewers by 24% overall and 40% in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic, surpassing the ratings of all other Democratic presidential candidate town halls that year. As of September 2019, the town hall had received more than 1.5 million views on YouTube.[319]
On August 6, 2019, Sanders appeared onThe Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Some praised Rogan for "hosting a pragmatic discussion" while others "seemed rather stunned by Sanders's decision to appear on the show at all." After the podcast, Rogan became a top-trending Twitter topic.[320] After interviewing him, Rogan said, "I am not right-wing ... I've interviewed right-wing people. I am 100% left-wing ... Bernie Sanders made a ton of sense to me and I would 100% vote for him."[321] As of October 2019, the podcast had received more than ten million views on YouTube.[322]
In December 2018, theDemocratic National Committee (DNC) announced the preliminary schedule for 12 official DNC-sanctioned debates, set to begin in June 2019, with six in 2019 and the remaining six during the first four months of 2020. During the July and September debates, commentators described Sanders andElizabeth Warren as having a "non-aggression pact", staking out similar progressive positions in contrast to the more conservative candidates.[323][324] In the October 15 debate, his first appearance since his heart attack, debate coach Todd Graham gave Sanders's performance an A, his highest rating of all the candidates.[325]
CNN hosted the first 2020 debate in January with six candidates remaining. Co-moderatorAbby Phillip questioned Sanders and Warren about an allegation Warren had made that he had privately told her that a woman could not defeat Donald Trump. Phillip asked Sanders, "Senator Sanders, CNN reported yesterday, and Senator Warren confirmed in a statement, that in 2018 you told her that you did not believe that a woman could win the election. Why did you say that?" Ignoring Sanders's strong denial, Phillip asked Warren, "What did you think when Bernie Sanders told you that a woman couldn't become president?" In an interview after the debate, Sanders called it ludicrous to believe that he would doubt a woman's ability to win the presidency and noted that a woman alreadyhad won the nationalpopular vote, saying, "After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes in 2016."[326]
Suspension of campaign
Sanders announced that he was suspending his campaign on April 8, 2020.[327][328][329] He stated that he would remain on the ballot in the remaining states and continue to accumulate delegates with the goal of influencing the Democratic Party's platform.[330][327][331] On April 14, Sanders endorsed Biden. Biden responded, "I think that your endorsement means a great deal. It means a great deal to me. I think people are going to be surprised that we are apart on some issues but we're awfully close on a whole bunch of others. I'm going to need you—not just to win the campaign, but to govern."[332]
A self-describeddemocratic socialist,[333] Sanders is aprogressive and left-wingpopulist who admiressocial democratic programs in Europe and supportsworkplace democracy viaunion democracy,worker cooperatives, andworkers' management ofpublic enterprises.[334][335][336][337] He is a strong critic of contemporaryneoliberal capitalism, which he calls "uber-capitalism", blaming it for such societal ills as declining life expectancy and risingdiseases of despair.[338][339][337] He advocatesuniversal,single-payer healthcare, paidparental leave, and tuition-free tertiary education.[340] He supports lowering the cost of drugs by reforming patent laws to allow cheaper generic versions to be sold in the US.[341] He supported theAffordable Care Act, though he said it did not go far enough.[342] In November 2015, he gave a speech atGeorgetown University about his view of democratic socialism, including its place in the policies of presidentsFranklin D. Roosevelt andLyndon B. Johnson.[343][344] Defining what "democratic socialism" means to him, Sanders said: "I don't believe government should take over the grocery store down the street or own the means of production, but I do believe that the middle class and the working families who produce the wealth of America deserve a decent standard of living and that their incomes should go up, not down. I do believe in private companies that thrive and invest and grow in America, companies that create jobs here, rather than companies that are shutting down in America and increasing their profits by exploiting low-wage labor abroad.."[345]
Bhaskar Sunkara has characterized Sanders's politics as "class struggle social democracy", arguing that whilepostwar social democracy operated as a compromise that institutedtripartite arrangements between business, labor, and government to dampen class conflict, Sanders sees social democratic demands as a means to sharpening class confrontation and raisingclass consciousness.[355] His views have been echoed byGeorge Eaton, arguing that Sunkara's phrase "captures the nuances of Sanders' politics in a way that a socialist / social democrat binary does not" and asserting that if he was elected president it would represent "the triumph of a politics that is neither wholly socialist, nor social democratic, but a new fusion of both".[356]
Believing greater emphasis is needed on labor rights and environmental concerns when negotiating international trade agreements, Sanders voted against and has long spoken againstNAFTA,CAFTA, andPNTR with China. He has called them a "disaster for the American worker", saying that they have resulted in American corporations moving abroad. He also opposes theTrans-Pacific Partnership, which he says was "written by corporate America and the pharmaceutical industry and Wall Street."[380][381] On May 1, 2019, he tweeted: "Since theChina trade deal I voted against, America has lost over three million manufacturing jobs. It's wrong to pretend that China isn't one of our major economic competitors."[382]
Sanders also strongly opposes outsourcing American jobs.[383] During discussions of theUnited States Innovation and Competition Act, which was to be used to fund the manufacture ofsemiconductors amid a shortage, he proposed a measure to ensure the companies the bill funded could not outsource their jobs. The proposed measure would also block the companies from forbidding their employees to unionize. Sanders's proposal was voted down by most Democrats and all Republicans in the Senate.[384][385] Ahead of the 2022 midterms, Sanders said he wants the Democratic Party to focus more on supporting unionization: "I think we should move to a system where, if 50% of the workers in a bargaining unit plus one vote to form a union, they have a union. End of discussion."[386]
Sanders supports establishingworker-owned cooperatives and introduced legislation numerous times from the 1990s to the 2020s that would aid workers who want to "form their own businesses or to set up worker-owned cooperatives."[387][388][389][390] As early as 1976, Sanders proposedworkplace democracy, saying, "I believe that, in the long run, major industries in this state and nation should be publicly owned and controlled by the workers themselves."[391] Likewise, he supports empowering and expandinglabor unions to advanceunion democracy.[392] In 1987, Sanders defined democracy aspublic ownership andworkers' self-management in the workplace, saying: "Democracy means public ownership of the major means of production, it means decentralization, it means involving people in their work. Rather than having bosses and workers it means having democratic control over the factories and shops to as great a degree as you can."[393] In his2020 run for president, he proposed that 20% of stocks in corporations with over $100 million in annual revenue beowned by the corporation's workers and that 45% of the board of directors of corporations with over $100 million in annual revenue beelected by the workers of that corporation.[394]
Sanders supports Palestinian rights and has often criticized Israel, while consistently supporting Israel's right to exist.[404] In 2020, he called theAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee a platform for bigotry and said he would not attend its conference.[405] He condemned Trump's decision torecognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying, "It would dramatically undermine the prospects for anIsraeli–Palestinian peace agreement, and severely, perhaps irreparably, damage the United States' ability to broker that peace."[406][407] During theGaza war, he criticizedHamas for theOctober 7 attacks and Israel for itsbombing of Gaza. He first called for only a pause in fighting, saying that he "doesn't know if a ceasefire is possible with an organization like Hamas",[408] but later called for a humanitarian ceasefire and urged Biden to withhold military aid to Israel.[409] Sanders accused Israel ofmass starvation,ethnic cleansing, andextermination. Sanders initially said thatallegations of genocide had to be adjudicated by theInternational Court of Justice, but in September 2025 he said: "The intent is clear. The conclusion is inescapable: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza."[410][411][412]
AddressingWestminster College in a September 2017 speech, Sanders laid out a foreign policy plan for greater international collaboration, adherence to US-led international agreements such as theParis Agreement and theIran nuclear deal framework and promoting human rights and democratic ideals. He emphasized the consequences associated with global economic inequality and climate change and urged reining in the use of US military power, saying it "must always be a last resort". He also criticizedUS support for "murderous regimes" during theCold War, such as those inIran,Chile andEl Salvador and said that those actions continue to make the US less safe.[413][414] He also spoke critically of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections and the way President Trump has handled the crisis.[415] He does not considerTurkey a US ally and condemned theTurkish military offensive against US-alignedKurdish forces in northeasternSyria.[416]
Gun laws
Sanders supports closing the "gun show loophole",banning assault weapons, and passing and enforcinguniversal federal background checks for gun purchases.[417][418][419] In 1990, his bid to become a US Representative benefitted from theNational Rifle Association of America opposing the competing campaign of Peter Smith, who had reversed his stance on firearm restrictions, and waiting periods for handgun purchases.[420] In 1993, while a US representative, he voted against theBrady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (which established background checks and wait periods), and in 2005 voted for legislation that gave gun manufacturers legal immunity against claims of negligence, but as of 2016[update] he has since said that he would support repealing that law.[124] In 1996, he voted against additional funding to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention for research on issues related to firearms, but in 2016, he called for an increase in CDC funding for the study of gun violence.[124]
Sanders criticized President Trump for appointing multiple billionaires to his cabinet.[434] He criticized Trump's rolling back President Obama'sClean Power Plan, noting the scientifically reported effect on climate change of human activity and citing Trump's calling those reports a hoax.[435] He called for caution on theSyrian Civil War, saying, "It's easier to get into a war than out of one."[436][437] In 2017, he promised to defeat "Trump and Trumpism and the Republican right-wing ideology".[438]
Sanders gave an online reply to Trump's January 2018State of the Union address in which he called Trump "compulsively dishonest" and criticized him for initiating "a looming immigration crisis" by ending theDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He voiced concern about Trump's failure to mention the finding that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election and "will likely interfere in the 2018 midterms we will be holding ... Unless you have a very special relationship with Mr. Putin".[439]
On January 6, 2021, Trump supportersattacked the United States Capitol. Sanders commented: "[Trump] has made it clear that he will do anything to remain in power – including insurrection and inciting violence [and he] will go down in history as the worst and most dangerous president in history."[440]
Sanders voted to convict Trump on both articles of hisfirst impeachment trial in 2020 (for pressuring a foreign leader to investigateJoe Biden), and again on the sole article of hissecond impeachment trial in 2021 (for inciting the Capitol attack).[441]
After Biden was elected president, Sanders became the subject of speculation over a potential appointment asLabor Secretary, which was supported by several progressive groups, such as theSunrise Movement.[445] For his part, Sanders said that he would accept Biden's nomination if it was offered, butBoston mayorMarty Walsh was chosen for the position instead. When announcing Walsh's nomination, Biden confirmed that he had discussed the position with Sanders, but the two agreed that Sanders's resignation from the Senate and the ensuing special election would have put the Democrats' slim Senate majority at risk.[446]
Sanders strongly supported Senate Democrats' decision to usebudget reconciliation, a procedure used to avoidfilibusters, to pass theAmerican Rescue Plan Act of 2021, despite having criticized Republicans' use of reconciliation to pass the2017 tax cuts.[452] The bill passed the Senate by a 50–49 vote and was signed into law by Biden on March 11, 2021.[453]
Sanders has continued to have a strong influence on the Biden administration. When it was noted that he had become a key voice in Biden's administration, he replied, "As somebody who wrote a book calledOutsider in the House, yes, it is a strange experience to be having that kind of influence that we have now." Their relationship has lasted over 30 years and Sanders has said it is based on respect and trust: "We have had a good relationship. He wants to be a champion of working families, and I admire that and respect that."[454]
Before the2022 midterm election, Sanders said he regarded it as deciding the fate of democracy, abortion, and climate change, calling it "the most consequential midterm election" of modern US history. He expressed a fear that the Democratic Party had "not done a good enough job" of getting its message out "to young people and working-class people".[455]
Sanders was the only independent or Democratic senator to oppose theCHIPS and Science Act, joining 17 Republican senators.[456] He called the bill "crony capitalism" and set several conditions for acceptance of the bill: "Companies must agree to issue warrants or equity stakes to the federal government; they must commit to not buying back their own stock, outsourcing American jobs overseas or repealing existing collective bargaining agreements; and they must remain neutral in any union organizing efforts".[457]
Trump's reelection in 2024 was met with consternation by Democrats. The three richest men in America attendedTrump's second inauguration, andElon Musk's formation ofDOGE, as well as the enactment ofProject 2025, were seen as myopic and unconstitutional, featuring policies such as reducing taxes on corporations andcapital gains, instituting aflat income tax on individuals,[461] cuttingMedicare andMedicaid,[462][463] reversing PresidentJoe Biden's policies, and reducing environmental protections.[464][465] After Trump won the election, Sanders released a statement blaming the Democratic Party's abandonment of "working-class people" for its defeat.[466] In February 2025, Sanders began the "Fighting Oligarchy Tour", in which he andOcasio-Cortez held rallies criticizing Trump's policies and economic inequality.[467][468] In April 2025, Sanders criticized the administration, saying that its moving “rapidly toward oligarchy”, he also called US a "pseudo-democracy".[469]
At one rally held in June 2025, Sanders reacted to news of Trump'sbombing of Iranian nuclear sites by saying: "The American people are being lied to again today. We cannot allow history to repeat itself".[470][471] Also in June, Sanders endorsedprogressive politician andDSA memberZohran Mamdani for the2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, calling him "best choice" for mayor.[472] In September 2025, Sanders criticizedDemocratic Party officials for their perceived refusal to support Mamdani after his victory in the New York City mayoral primary.[473] In the same month, Sanders gave an interview to Mamdani in which they discussed Sanders's political beginnings and his achievements as a mayor and senator.[474] On September 15, 2025, Sanders said that Israel is committinggenocide in Gaza, becoming the first US senator to make such comment.[475]
Born into aDemocratic-voting family, Sanders was first introduced to political activism when his brotherLarry joined theYoung Democrats of America and campaigned forAdlai Stevenson II in 1956.[476] Sanders joined Vermont'sLiberty Union Party in 1971 and was a candidate for several offices, never coming close to winning election. He became party chairman,[477] but quit in 1977 to become an independent.[478] In 1980, he served as an elector for theSocialist Workers Party.[479][480] In 1981, Sanders ran as an independent for mayor of Burlington, Vermont, and defeated the Democratic incumbent; he was reelected three times.[80] Although an independent, he endorsed Democratic presidential candidatesWalter Mondale in1984 andJesse Jackson in1988. His endorsement of Mondale was lukewarm (telling reporters that "if you go around saying that Mondale would be a great president, you would be a liar and a hypocrite"), but he supported Jackson enthusiastically.[481]The Washington Post reported that the Jackson campaign helped inspire Sanders to work more closely with the Democratic Party.[481][3]
Sanders first ran for the US House of Representatives in1988 and for the US Senate in2006, often adopting a strategy of winning the Democratic Party primary, thereby eliminating Democratic challengers, and then running as an independent in the general election.[483] He continued this strategy through his reelection in the2018 United States Senate election in Vermont.[484] Throughout his tenure in Congress, he has been listed as an independent. He caucused with Democrats in the House[15] while refusing to join the party,[102] and continues to caucus with Democrats in the Senate.[207] Some conservative southern House Democrats initially barred him from the caucus as they believed that allowing a self-described socialist to join would harm their electoral prospects.[3] He soon came to work constructively with Democrats, voting with the party over 90% of the time during his tenure in Congress.[3]
Starting with his 2016 presidential campaign, Sanders's announcements suggested that not only was he running as a Democrat, but that he would run as a Democrat in future elections.[485][486][487] When challenged by Clinton about his party commitment, he said, "Of course I am a Democrat and running for the Democratic nomination."[488] Since he remained a senator elected as an independent, his US Senate website and press materials continued to refer to him as an independent during the campaign and upon his return to the Senate.[489][490] In October 2017, Sanders said he would run for reelection as an independent in 2018 despite pressure to run as a Democrat.[491] His party status became ambiguous again in March 2019 when he signed a formal "loyalty pledge" to the Democratic Party stating that he was a member of the party and would serve as a Democrat if elected president. He signed the pledge the day after he signed paperwork to run as an independent for reelection to the Senate in 2024.[296]
After Trump's victory in the 2016 elections, Sanders suggested the Democratic Party undergo a series of reforms and that it "break loose from its corporate establishment ties and, once again, become a grass-roots party of working people, the elderly and the poor."[492] He drew parallels between his campaign and that of theLabour Party in the2017 UK general election.[493][494] He wrote inThe New York Times that "the British elections should be a lesson for the Democratic Party" and urged the Democrats to stop holding on to an "overly cautious, centrist ideology", arguing that "momentum shifted to Labour after it released a very progressive manifesto that generated much enthusiasm among young people and workers."[495][496] He had earlier praisedJeremy Corbyn's stance on class issues.[497] Sanders is one of two independents in the Senate, along withAngus King, both of whom caucus with theDemocrats.[498]
Personal life
Sanders with his wifeJane O'Meara in Des Moines, Iowa, January 2016
In 1963, Sanders and Deborah Shiling Messing, whom he met in college, volunteered for several months on the IsraelikibbutzSha'ar HaAmakim. They married in 1964 and bought a summer home in Vermont; they had no children and divorced in 1966.[27][499][500][15] His son (and only biological child), Levi Sanders, was born in 1969 to then-girlfriend Susan Campbell Mott.[25]
On October 1, 2019, Sanders was hospitalized after experiencing chest pains at a campaign event inLas Vegas. His campaign announced the next day that a blockage had been found in onecoronary artery and twostents inserted.[512] Scheduled campaign events and appearances were canceled until further notice.[513] Two days later his campaign released a statement that he had been diagnosed with a heart attack. He was released from the hospital the same day.[512] The statement included the following from Sanders's doctors:[514]
After presenting to an outside facility with chest pain, Sen. Sanders was diagnosed with amyocardial infarction. He was immediately transferred to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. The senator was stable upon arrival and taken immediately to the cardiac catheterization laboratory, at which time two stents were placed in a blocked coronary artery in a timely fashion. All other arteries were normal. His hospital course was uneventful with good expected progress. He was discharged with instructions to follow up with his personal physician.
A few days after returning home, Sanders addressed media outside his home and said he had experienced fatigue and chest discomfort for a month or two before the incident; he expressed regret for not seeking medical assessment sooner: "I was dumb."[515]
Sanders made his first national appearance after his heart attack on October 15 at the Democratic debate, at which he said, "I'm healthy, I'm feeling great." When asked how he would reassure voters about his health and ability to take on the duties of the presidency, he said, "We are going to be mounting a vigorous campaign all over this country. That is how I think I can reassure the American people." It was noted that he was "lively and sharp at the debate."[516]
On December 4, 2015, Sanders wonTime's 2015Person of the Year readers' poll with 10.2% of the vote[518][519] but did not receive the editorial board's award. On March 20, 2016, he was given an honoraryLushootseed name,dxʷshudičup,[e] byDeborah Parker inSeattle to honor his focus on Native American issues during his presidential campaign.[520]
As Sanders described his upbringing as anAmerican Jew in a 2016 speech: his father generally attended synagogue only onYom Kippur; he attendedpublic schools while his mother "chafed" at hisyeshiva Sunday schooling at a Hebrew school; and their religious observances were mostly limited toPassoverseders with their neighbors. Larry Sanders said of their parents, "They were very pleased to be Jews, but didn't have a strong belief inGod."[522] Bernie had abar mitzvah[523] at the historicKingsway Jewish Center inMidwood, Brooklyn, where he grew up.[522]
As mayor of Burlington, Sanders allowed aChabadpublic menorah to be placed at city hall, an action theACLU contested. He publicly inaugurated theHanukkahmenorah and performed the Jewish religious ritual ofblessing Hanukkah candles.[522] His early and strong support played a significant role in the now widespreadpublic menorah celebrations around the globe.[527][528][529][530] When asked about his Jewish heritage, Sanders has said that he is "proud to be Jewish."[16]
Sanders rarely speaks about religion.[523] He describes himself as "not particularly religious"[16] and "not actively involved" withorganized religion.[523] A press package issued by his office states his religion as Jewish.[531] He has said he believes in God, but not necessarily in a traditional way: "I think everyone believes in God in their own ways", he said. "To me, it means that all of us are connected, all of life is connected, and that we are all tied together."[523][532] In October 2015, on thelate-night talk showJimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel asked him, "You say you are culturally Jewish and you don't feel religious; do you believe in God and do you think that's important to the people of the United States?" Sanders replied:[533]
I am who I am, and what I believe in and what my spirituality is about is that we're all in this together. That I think it is not a good thing to believe as human beings we can turn our backs on the suffering of other people ... and this is not Judaism, this is what Pope Francis is talking about, that we can't just worship billionaires and the making of more and more money. Life is more than that.
In 2016, he disclosed that he had "very strong religious and spiritual feelings", adding, "My spirituality is that we are all in this together and that when children go hungry, when veterans sleep out on the street, it impacts me."[534]
Sanders does not regularly attend synagogue, and he does not refrain from working onRosh Hashanah, as observant Jews do. He has attendedyahrzeit observances in memory of the deceased, for the father of a friend, and in 2015 attended aTashlikh, an atonement ceremony, with the mayor of Lynchburg on the afternoon ofRosh Hashanah.[522] According toRichard Sugarman, his Jewish identity is "certainly more ethnic and cultural than religious."[535] His wife isRoman Catholic, and he has often expressed admiration forPope Francis, saying that "the leader of theCatholic Church is raising profound issues. It is important that we listen to what he has said." He has said he feels very close to Francis's economic teachings, describing him as "incredibly smart and brave".[14][536][537] In April 2016, he accepted an invitation fromMarcelo Sánchez Sorondo, an aide close to Francis, to speak at a Vatican conference on economic and environmental issues. While at theVatican, he met briefly with Francis.[538][539]
In popular culture
In December 1987, during his tenure as mayor of Burlington, Sanders recorded a folk album,We Shall Overcome, with 30 Vermont musicians. As he was not a skilled singer, he performed his vocals in atalking blues style.[540][541]
Senator Bernie Sanders speaking at a Fighting Oligarchy Tour rally in Los Angeles in April 2025
Internet culture
Owing to his two high-profile campaigns in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic primaries, Sanders and his campaigns have generated manyInternet memes and other online content. TheFacebook groupBernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash, where users can submit memes focused around Sanders, received significant attention in the 2016 primary season due to the at-the-time unique idea of a meme community focused entirely on a politician.[542][543] During the 2020 primary season, a still from a fundraising video in which Sanders tells the viewers "I am once again asking for your financial support" wentviral online, with numerous edits made of the frame.[544][545] The day beforeSuper Tuesday 2020, a video of the Twitch streamerNeekolul wearing a Bernie 2020 shirt and lip-syncing the song "Oki Doki Boomer" also went viral.[546] In 2021, a frame from theinauguration of Joe Biden showing Sanders seated in a folding chair wearing patterned mittens and a jacket reminiscent of the one in the "I am once again asking" memewent viral, with the image captioned or edited into other images, most commonly popular movie scenes.[547][548]
In film and television
Sanders appeared in a cameo role in the 1988 comedy-drama filmSweet Hearts Dance, playing a man who distributes candy to young trick-or-treaters.[549] In 1999, he acted in the filmMy X-Girlfriend's Wedding Reception, playing Rabbi Manny Shevitz. In this role, he mourned theBrooklyn Dodgers' move to Los Angeles, reflecting Sanders's own upbringing in Brooklyn.[550] On February 6, 2016, he was a guest star alongsideLarry David (who is a sixth cousin once removed of Sanders) onSaturday Night Live, playing a Polish immigrant on asteamship that was sinking near theStatue of Liberty.[551][552]
^One biological, and three stepchildren. Sanders has stated that he considers his stepchildren as his own children.
^A long speech such as this is commonly known as afilibuster, but because it did not block action, it was not technically a filibuster under Senate rules.[165]
"Bernie Sanders Biography".Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, LLC.Archived from the original on January 3, 2023. RetrievedFebruary 18, 2016.
"Sanders, Bernard (1941 – )".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives' Office of History and Preservation and the Office of the Historian of the United States Senate.Archived from the original on February 17, 2020. RetrievedFebruary 18, 2016.
^New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1957 immigration record: Eliasz Gitman, sailing from Antwerp, mother Jetti Gutman, citizenship in 1927 as Elias Sanders.
Feldmann, Linda (June 11, 2015)."Bernie Sanders: 'I'm Proud to be Jewish'".The Christian Science Monitor.Archived from the original on April 23, 2020. RetrievedJune 13, 2015.'I'm proud to be Jewish,' the Independent from Vermont – and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination – responded Thursday at a press breakfast hosted by the Monitor. Though, he added, 'I'm not particularly religious.' As a child, Sanders said, being Jewish taught him 'in a very deep way what politics is about. A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932,' the senator said. 'He won an election, and 50 million people died as a result of that election in World War II, including 6 million Jews. So what I learned as a little kid is that politics is, in fact, very important.'
^Chana, Jas (August 20, 2015)."Straight Outta Brooklyn, by Way of Vermont: The Bernie Sanders Story".Tablet.Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. RetrievedJanuary 20, 2016.Soltys told them that at the time the Nazis invaded Poland, Romek was the leader of Slopnice's Jewish community. "Which of course," Larry said, "meant he was one of the first to be killed."
^Perlstein, Rick (January 2015)."A political education".The University of Chicago Magazine.Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2015.
^McCarthy, Colman (April 1, 1989)."Bernie Sanders' Socialism".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. RetrievedFebruary 18, 2020.
^Bernie Sanders, Alan Greenspan (July 15, 2003).Monetary Policy Report (Motion Picture). House Financial Services Committee:C-SPAN. Event occurs at 1:29:12.Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. RetrievedDecember 18, 2019.
^"Final Vote Results for Roll Call 614".US House of Representatives. Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. RetrievedNovember 17, 2014.
^Hudson, David L. Jr. (May 25, 2004)."Patriot Act".Libraries and First Amendment. First Amendment Center.Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. RetrievedMay 19, 2015.
^Krieg, Gregory (July 9, 2015)."Watch Young Senator Barack Obama Campaign for Bernie Sanders in 2006". mic.com.Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. RetrievedJuly 20, 2015.Back in March 2006, the future president traveled to Vermont to headline a rally and fundraiser for then-Rep. Bernie Sanders, an independent running for Senate, and Pete Welch, a Democrat seeking election to Sanders's House seat.
^Taylor, Jessica (June 24, 2015)."This Quirky New Hampshire Law Might Keep Bernie Sanders Off The Ballot".NPR.Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. RetrievedJuly 20, 2015.He did appear on the Democratic primary ballot in Vermont for the Senate in both 2006 and 2012, winning their primary, but he declined the nomination both times so he could run as an independent.
^Nichols, John (May 26, 2015)."'Don't Underestimate Me': Bernie Sanders Knows a Thing or Two About Winning".The Nation. Archived fromthe original on July 17, 2015. RetrievedJuly 20, 2015.When Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords, a Republican who turned independent in his last term, announced that he was stepping down in 2006, Sanders jumped into a race that a number of Democrats would have liked to run. He won the Democratic primary and then declined the nomination, mounting an audacious independent run that was not supposed to be easy.
^abcSides, John; Tesler, Michael;Vavreck, Lynn (2018).Identity Crisis.Princeton University Press. pp. 8, 99,104–107.ISBN978-0-691-17419-8.Archived from the original on November 14, 2019. RetrievedDecember 8, 2019.Sanders's media coverage and polling numbers were strongly correlated ... At this point in time [2015], Sanders's share of news coverage far exceeded his share in national polls.
^O'Connor, Kevin (November 15, 2016)."Sanders' Book 'Our Revolution' Arriving with New Significance".VTDigger.Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. RetrievedNovember 21, 2016.the candidate who had been anointed by the entire establishment, was winning, but at the same time was losing state after state by huge margins.
^Harper, Jennifer (August 18, 2016)."Bernie Sanders: Still percolating".The Washington Times.Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. RetrievedAugust 19, 2016.Election days come and go, but the struggle for economic, social, racial and environmental justice must continue. We have the guts and the energy to take on the special interests, win critical battles on the most important issues of our time, and redefine what's possible in this country. Now it's time for all of us to get to work.
Lerer, Lisa (July 16, 2009)."Where's the outrage over AIG bonuses?".Politico. RetrievedApril 19, 2010.Only a handful of members, including self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), criticized ...
Issenberg, Sasha (January 9, 2010)."Sanders a growing force on the far, far left".Boston Globe. RetrievedAugust 24, 2013.You go to Scandinavia, and you will find that people have a much higher standard of living, in terms of education, health care, and decent paying jobs.
Topaz, Jonathan; Schreckinger, Ben (July 6, 2015)."The socialist surge".Politico. RetrievedAugust 18, 2015. 'I believe that, in the long run, major industries in this state and nation should be publicly owned and controlled by the workers themselves,' he wrote in 1976.
^abJaffe, Sarah (July 14, 2009)."Sanders Schools McCain on Public Healthcare".The Nation. Archived fromthe original on July 6, 2015. RetrievedOctober 16, 2013.Senator Bernie Sanders is one of the Senate's fiercest advocates for real healthcare reform that puts Americans, not private insurance companies, first. Recently, Sanders told The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel, '[I]f you are serious about real healthcare reform, the only way to go issingle-payer.'
^abTotten, Shay (January 15, 2007)."Sanders to push global warming legislation in Senate".Vermont Guardian.Archived from the original on May 8, 2015. RetrievedAugust 4, 2009.Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, said Monday he was making good on at least one of a handful of campaign promises — introducing a bill designed to cut U.S. contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade. ... Sanders added that construction of new power plants is 'extraordinarily expensive' and he would prefer to see federal funding support used to expand the development of sustainable energy, as well as biofuels.
^Schwartz, Drew (October 29, 2015)."Bernie Sanders Wants to Abolish the Death Penalty".Vice. RetrievedAugust 3, 2016.Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called for an end to the death penalty on Thursday, laying out his case in a Senate floor speech just one day after Hillary Clinton – the party's 2016 frontrunner and Sanders' main rival for the nomination – said she was opposed to abolishing the practice.
^Logan, Nick (June 27, 2024)."You may hear Project 2025 during the U.S. presidential election campaign. What is that?".Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. RetrievedJuly 27, 2024.The Heritage Foundation, the influential group behind Project 2025, has laid out sweeping reforms of virtually every aspect of government, including a plan that critics warn will line the public service with employees loyal to a Republican commander-in-chief, as well as providing an ultra-conservative framework for policies. Its stated goal is to undo most everything implemented in the previous four years of U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.
^Blomquist, Dan; Way, Robert (November 5, 2015)."Bernie Sanders files for Democratic ballot in N.H. primary".Boston Globe. RetrievedDecember 20, 2019.When a reporter asked Sanders his party allegiance after he filed, Sanders responded, 'I'm a Democrat.' He then called on Buckley, the Democratic chairman, who confirmed the senator's party allegiance. Sanders added that he would run as a Democrat in any future elections.
^Seitz-Wald, Alex; Koenig, Kailani (November 5, 2015)."Sanders Files for New Hampshire State Ballot Without Incident".NBC News. RetrievedAugust 30, 2023.Sanders declared himself a Democrat Thursday, and said he will run as a Democrat in future elections, and that was good enough for Gardner.
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