Bernie Sanders has released 10 years worth of tax returns. To be clear: This is still infinitely more than Trump has delivered. Regardless, as of Monday, people have been digging into the decade’s worth of tax documents to see how much money the long-time senator, relatively recently brought into the national spotlight, actually made.
In the past, it’s been noted that Sanders is one of the lowest paid people in the Senate. He’s also been a strong advocate for low-income people and the middle class, eager to increase taxes on the super wealthy to make this country better for everyone. That’s all still true—but it’s also true that Sanders is now a millionaire.
Sanders, who ran for president in 2016, and is now running again, went through some life changes in the years between this run. One big one? He got a lot wealthier. Sanders (and his wife, Jane), had a bottom line of $240,622 when he started his first campaign for president in 2015. One year later? According to records provided by his campaign, they jumped to $1,073,333.
Since his first run, they’ve made more than $2.79 million. Where did the dollars come from? In 2018, Sanders reported a total family income of $566,421. Of that amount, $382,920 came from writing and related royalties.
How did the taxes shake out? The documents report that he paid $137,573 in federal taxes in 2018. He ended up owing $8,267. His effective tax rate was reported as about 26 percent on his adjusted gross income. Oh—and Bernie and Jane have donated $18,950 to charity, as reflected in the documents.
Going back to 2017 and 2016, respectively, he earned $1.15 million and about $1.1 million.
All of which leads us to the big question: Bernie is a millionaire. Does this matter? According to Faiz Shakir, his campaign manager, this information doesn’t matter at all. Shakir spoke to CNN and stressed that the Vermont senator’s individual wealth had no impact on his policy ideas.
"If the ultimate question is, will he credibly push special interests and the billionaire class and the wealthy in this country to do the things that need to be done, like Medicare for All, like a climate jobs plan, the answer is yes," Shakir explained to
CNN in an interview. "He could earn another million dollars and it would still wouldn't matter."
Sanders himself issued a statement regarding his income:
“These tax returns show that our family has been fortunate. I am very grateful for that, as I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck and I know the stress of economic insecurity. That is why I strive every day to ensure every American has the basic necessities of life, including a livable wage, decent housing, health care and retirement security. I consider paying more in taxes as my income rose to be both an obligation and an investment in our country. I will continue to fight to make our tax system more progressive so that our country has the resources to guarantee the American Dream to all people.”
A considerable amount of their income came from his bestselling book, Our Revolution, released in 2016, and his 2018 book, Where We Go from Here. In a Fox News town hall on Monday, Sanders addressed this, adding, "If anyone thinks I should apologize for writing a bestselling book, I'm sorry, I'm not going to do it. It's not vilifying to say that people have a whole lot of money, in some cases billions of dollars of wealth, they should pay their fair share of taxes," Sanders continued.
You can watch an excerpt of the town hall below:
All of this tax information is available on the candidate’s website. Do you think his wealth status changes his message?