News / Politics

Sanders’ new $600,000 home stirs controversy

Thursday, 11 August 2016 2:47 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 11 August 2016 4:17 PM ]

US Senator Bernie Sanders (AFP photo)

US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has bought a new summer resort for nearly $600,000, setting off an uproar among those who supported his bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Thousands of the former candidate’s supporters expressed their disappointment when the Sanders family purchased a 1,800-square-foot (167 square meters) home on the beachfront of Lake Champlain, in North Hero, Vermont, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The $575,000 four-bedroom house will be the third one that Sanders and his wife own in addition to their two homes in Washington and Burlington.

This was a surprisingly expensive deal for Sanders, who had told his supporters that his net worth was a little over $528,000.

“Certainly it surprised the 99 percent of Americans who can't afford a third home,” the American weekly Washington Examiner wrote.

During his run for the White House, Sanders attracted many voters who admired his socialist approach and pledges to fight corporate greed, as well as the wealthy one percent who own most of America’s wealth.

This file photo shows an aerial view from the Lake Champlain in Vermont.

"It is not moral, not acceptable and not sustainable that the top one-tenth of one percent now own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent, or that the top one percent in recent years has earned 85 percent of all new income. That is unacceptable. That must change," Sanders had said in one of his speeches.

The senator’s campaign pitched him as the only independent candidate in the presidential race, encouraging voters to support his campaign through contributions.

At its peak, estimates show that the Sanders campaign, which started in May 2015, easily raised over $35 million from small donors each month.

However, many of his supporters called for refunds on Monday, when the local paper Seven Days Vermont broke the news of his new home.

Others just mocked those who donated money to the campaign: “The socialist has a "summer home" lol y'all got clowned as always,” one user wrote on Twitter.

“How's that capitalism working out for ya,” wrote another one.

Soon after ending his bid in favor of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Sanders landed a major deal for his forthcoming book “Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In” which will hit bookshelves on November 15.

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Bernie Sanders