Republican Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin accused Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders of hypocrisy during a heated debate on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
As the Senate HELP Committee was questioning Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Mullin called out Sanders for criticizing Shultz and cited the independent’s own multi million-dollar net worth.
“If you can be a millionaire, why can’t Mr. Schultz and other CEOs be millionaires and be honest too?” Mullin asked Sanders.
To which the self-proclaimed democratic socialist responded, “That’s a lie.”
Following the back-and-forth debate, Mullin went on to claim that Sanders “demonizes people” during an interview on Fox News on Thursday.
“He’s demonizing all CEOs for being millionaires. He talks about equality. And here’s a guy that has been nothing but in public office,” Mullin told host Jimmy Falia. “He draws a pension from being a mayor, a lifelong pension, to the point to where when he passes away, his wife’s able to get the full pension too, every month. He’s been in office up here for 27, 28 years. And since that time, he’s been able to accumulate a wealth of over $8 million.”
“And his wife’s a social worker, a professional social worker. So the last time I checked, both of them have done nothing but made money off of taxpayers, which is perfectly okay… But his hypocrisy runs wild. And he demonizes people,” he continued.
This comes as Sanders is similarly being grilled for going on tour to promote his new book with an ironically heavy price tag.
Sanders is going on tour for his new book, “It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism,” which publisher Penguin Random House describes as an argument that “unfettered capitalism is to blame for an unprecedented level of income and wealth inequality” and is undermining U.S. democracy as a result.
Ticketmaster sold tickets for the Vermont senator’s book tour, which apparently cost between $50 and $100.
Republicans were quick to point out the independent lawmakers’ decision to sell tickets via Ticketmaster, given Sanders’ opposition to capitalism.
“Sanders is the ultimate capitalist,” said Georgia Republican Rep. Austin Scott. “He’s been selling the same trash over and over for years.”
“Multi-millionaire Bernie Sanders is charging up to $95 per ticket to attend his upcoming anti-capitalism event, where he will be hawking his anti-capitalism book for $28,” BASEDPolitics editor-in-chief Brad Polumbo tweeted. “You really can’t make this s— up.”
