IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA: Sanders’ anti-oligarchy tour spent $608k on elite travel.

Sanders is barnstorming the country on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, a series of rallies aimed at opposing President Trump and supporting economic populism. To defray its cost, he is raising and spending money through his principal campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders. Even as Sanders rails against billionaires’ political clout and economic inequality, his committee has relied on elite trappings more commonly associated with the wealthy.

The Center Square examined Friends of Bernie Sanders’ filings with the Federal Election Commission from the start of the tour in January 2025 through March, a 15-month stretch when Sanders was the featured speaker at 32 rallies at cities, university campuses, and small towns around the country. More than half a dozen other members of Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a New York Democrat, have also spoken at the rallies.

To travel, the committee paid $562,117 for 11 private jet trips and $16,633 for a chauffeured car or limousine service 11 times. For lodging, it paid $29,064 to stay at a four-star hotel 15 times.

Being in Friends of Bernie Sanders isn’t cheap, but pretending to stick it to the oligarchy that you’re actually a part of never was.