A CNN host mocked Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Saturday for flying to rally stops in a private jet on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
Sanders has been traveling across the country with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., drawing large crowds at their rallies. Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have received criticism after flying private or first class to their tour stops.
“Can you fight the billionaires from coach? The answer is apparently ‘no,’ from Bernie Sanders, who is getting heat for flying private jets to and from his ‘Fighting the Oligarchs’ rally with AOC,” CNN host Abby Phillip said on “CNN Saturday Morning Table for Five.”
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Sanders defended the flying accommodations during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Wednesday, saying that he can’t be expected to wait in long lines at the airport when he has multiple campaign stops to make in a single day.
“You run a campaign, and you do three or four or five rallies in a week. [It is] the only way you can get around to talk to 30,000 people. You think I’m going to be sitting on a waiting line at United…while 30,000 people are waiting?” Sanders said on “Special Report.”
Sanders’ campaign committee spent over $221,000 on private jets in the first quarter of 2025, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings reviewed by Fox News Digital. The CNN panel shredded the independent senator for his “terrible” defense of the practice.
“You’re a man of the people, how dare I have to be with the people?” asked former Meet the Press host Chuck Todd.
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“You can’t defend this answer. Hey buddy, we all have to stand in line. We all have to do this… let them eat cake,” Todd said.
“It definitely came across as, ‘I’m not going to stand in this line with the peons,” Phillip replied.
Washington Post reporter Josh Rogin chimed in to ask what the carbon footprint of Sanders’ private jet is. The Vermont senator has been outspoken about climate change, calling it a “threat to the planet” in 2023.
CNN’s Ashley Allison slammed Sanders’ hypocrisy for calling out billionaires while behaving like one. She said that Sanders should either fly coach and not schedule so many stops in a day, or stop attacking billionaires if he’s going to continue to enjoy their luxury lifestyle.
“I think when you’re saying like there should be no billionaires. Well, billionaires fly on private jets… [either] don’t hit as many places at once, or don’t knock the billionaires,” Ashley said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders and did not receive an immediate reply.
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