View source for Bernie Sanders

{{short description|American politician and activist (born 1941)}}
{{distinguish|Bernie Saunders}}
{{redirect|Senator Sanders|other senators with the surname "Sanders"|Senator Sanders (disambiguation)}}
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{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
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{{Merge from|Media coverage of Bernie Sanders|discuss=Talk:Bernie Sanders#Merge_Media_coverage_of_Bernie_Sanders_into_Bernie_Sanders_(and_other_related_articles)|date=December 2025}}
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{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Bernie Sanders
| image               = Bernie Sanders 2023.jpg
| caption             = Sanders in 2023
| jr/sr               = United States Senator
| state               = [[Vermont]]
| alongside           = [[Peter Welch]]
| term_start          = January 3, 2007
| term_end            = 
| predecessor         = [[Jim Jeffords]]<!-- 
| successor         = -->
| office1           = Ranking Member of the [[United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions|Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee]]
| term_start1       = January 3, 2025
| term_end1         = 
| predecessor1      = [[Bill Cassidy]]
{{Collapsed infobox section begin
| cont              = yes
| former Committee positions
| titlestyle        = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| embed             = yes
| office2           = Chair of the [[United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions|Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee]]
| term_start2       = January 3, 2023
| term_end2         = January 3, 2025
| predecessor2      = [[Patty Murray]]
| successor2        = Bill Cassidy
| office3           = Chair of the [[United States Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee|Senate Democratic Outreach Committee]]
| leader3           = [[Chuck Schumer]]
| 1blankname3       = Vice Chair
| 1namedata3        = [[Catherine Cortez Masto]]
| term_start3       = January 3, 2017
| term_end3         = 
| predecessor3      = [[Amy Klobuchar]] (Steering and Outreach)
| successor3        = 
| office4           = Chair of the [[United States Senate Committee on the Budget|Senate Budget Committee]]
| term_start4       = February 3, 2021
| term_end4         = January 3, 2023
| predecessor4      = [[Mike Enzi]]
| successor4        = [[Sheldon Whitehouse]]
| office5           = Chair of the [[Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee]]
| term_start5       = January 3, 2013
| term_end5         = January 3, 2015
| predecessor5      = Patty Murray
| successor5        = [[Johnny Isakson]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
| state6              = [[Vermont]]
| district6           = {{ushr|VT|AL|at-large}}
| term_start6         = January 3, 1991
| term_end6           = January 3, 2007
| predecessor6        = [[Peter Plympton Smith]]
| successor6          = [[Peter Welch]]
| office7             = 37th [[Mayor of Burlington]]
| term_start7         = April 6, 1981
| term_end7           = April 4, 1989
| predecessor7        = [[Gordon Paquette]]
| successor7          = [[Peter Clavelle]]
| birth_name          = Bernard Sanders
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1941|9|8}}
| birth_place         = [[Brooklyn]], New York, U.S.
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Independent Democrat|Independent]] (1978–present)
| otherparty          = {{ubl |[[Green Mountain Peace and Justice Party|Liberty Union]] (1970–1977) |[[Vermont Progressive Party|Vermont Progressive]] (1981–present){{efn|Affiliated non-member}} |[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (2015–2016, 2019–2020){{efn|[[Senate Democratic Caucus|Caucus]] member (1995–present)}}}}
| spouse              = {{ubl |{{marriage|Deborah Shiling|1964|1966|end=div}} |{{marriage|[[Jane Sanders|Jane O'Meara]]|May 28, 1988}}}}
| children            = 4{{efn|One biological, and three stepchildren. Sanders has stated that he considers his stepchildren as his own children.}}
| relatives           = [[Larry Sanders (politician)|Larry Sanders]] (brother)
| education           = {{ubl |[[Brooklyn College]] |[[University of Chicago]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}
| signature           = Bernie Sanders signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Official signature of Bernie Sanders
| website             = {{ubl |{{URL|sanders.senate.gov|Senate website}} |{{URL|berniesanders.com|Campaign website}}}}
| module              = {{listen
|embed       = yes
|title       = Sanders's voice
|filename    = Bernie Sanders speaks out in opposition to the Iraq War.ogg
|description = Sanders speaking against the [[Iraq War]].<br>Recorded October 9, 2002}}
}}
{{Bernie Sanders series}}
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'''Bernard <!-- Per MOS:HYPOCORISM, do not add "Bernie" as a nickname --> Sanders''' (born September{{nbsp}}8, 1941) is an American politician and activist serving as the [[Seniority in the United States Senate|senior]] [[United States Senate|United States senator]]<!--lower case per MOS:JOBTITLE--> from [[Vermont]], a seat he has held since 2007. He is the longest-serving [[independent politician|independent]] in U.S. congressional history, but maintains a close relationship with the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], having [[Congressional caucus|caucused]] with [[House Democratic Caucus|House]] and [[Senate Democratic Caucus|Senate Democrats]] for most of his congressional career and sought the party's presidential nomination in [[Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign|2016]] and [[Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign|2020]]. Ideologically a [[Democratic socialism|democratic socialist]],<ref name="Democratic socialist">
* {{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=April 30, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders confirms presidential run and damns America's inequities |work=[[The Guardian]] |quote=The self-described 'democratic socialist' enters the race as a robust liberal alternative&nbsp;... |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/30/bernie-sanders-confirms-presidential-run-and-damns-americas-inequities |access-date=June 19, 2015}}
* {{cite news |last=Dreier |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Dreier |date=May 5, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders' Socialism Is as American as Apple Pie |work=[[HuffPost]] |quote=because the 73‑year{{bracket|‑}}old U.S. senator from Vermont describes himself as a 'democratic socialist.' |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-socialism-_b_7210120 |access-date=May 5, 2015}}
* {{cite web |last=Lerer |first=Lisa |date=July 16, 2009 |title=Where's the outrage over AIG bonuses? |website=[[Politico]] |quote=Only a handful of members, including self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), criticized&nbsp;... |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2009/07/aig-wheres-the-outrage-025000 |access-date=April 19, 2010}}</ref> Sanders is regarded as one of the main leaders of the modern American [[Progressivism in the United States#In the 21st century|progressive movement]].

Born into a working-class Jewish family and raised in New York, Sanders attended [[Brooklyn College]] before graduating from the [[University of Chicago]] in 1964. While a student, he was a protest organizer for the [[Congress of Racial Equality]] (CORE) and the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC) during the [[civil rights movement]]. After settling in Vermont in 1968, he ran unsuccessful [[Third party (United States)|third-party]] political campaigns in the 1970s. He was elected [[List of mayors of Burlington, Vermont|mayor of Burlington]] in [[1981 Burlington mayoral election|1981]] as an independent and was reelected three times.

Sanders was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in [[1990 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont|1990]], representing Vermont's at-large congressional district. In 1991, he and five other House members co-founded the [[Congressional Progressive Caucus]].<ref name="Last"/> Sanders was a U.S. representative for 16 years before being elected to the U.S. Senate in [[2006 United States Senate election in Vermont|2006]], becoming the first non-Republican elected to Vermont's [[Class 1 Senator|Class 1 seat]] since [[Solomon Foot]], a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]], in 1850. Sanders was reelected in [[2012 United States Senate election in Vermont|2012]], [[2018 United States Senate election in Vermont|2018]], and [[2024 United States Senate election in Vermont|2024]]. He chaired the [[Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee]] from 2013 to 2015, the [[Senate Budget Committee]] from 2021 to 2023, and the [[United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions|Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee]] from 2023 to 2025. He is the [[Seniority in the United States Senate|senior]] senator and dean of the [[United States congressional delegations from Vermont|Vermont congressional delegation]].

Sanders was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in [[2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2016]] and [[2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2020]], finishing second both times. His [[Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign|2016 campaign]] generated significant grassroots enthusiasm and funding from small-dollar donors, helping him win 23 [[Democratic Party 2016 presidential primaries|primaries and caucuses]].<ref name="auto4">{{cite news |last=Gambino |first=Lauren |date=March 10, 2019 |title='Not the billionaires': why small-dollar donors are Democrats' new powerhouse |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/10/democrats-small-dollar-donors-essential-bernie-sanders |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226055113/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/10/democrats-small-dollar-donors-essential-bernie-sanders |archive-date=February 26, 2020 |access-date=February 25, 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2020, his [[Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign|strong showing]] in early [[2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries|primaries and caucuses]] made him the [[front-runner]] in a large [[2020 Democratic Party presidential candidates|field of Democratic candidates]]. He became a close ally of [[Joe Biden]] after the [[2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2020 primaries]].<ref name="wapo" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Vargas |first=Ramon Antonio |date=August 28, 2023 |title=Bernie Sanders urges left to back Biden to stop 'very dangerous' Trump |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/28/bernie-sanders-democrats-support-biden-trump-2024 |access-date=September 1, 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=September 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901205124/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/28/bernie-sanders-democrats-support-biden-trump-2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Since [[Donald Trump]]'s reelection as president in [[2024 United States presidential election|2024]], Sanders has vocally opposed Trump's administration and perceived corruption as what he calls a right-wing [[oligarchy]], [[Fighting Oligarchy tour|rallying an organization tour]] against [[Trumpism|Trump and his allies]], especially [[Elon Musk]], in an effort to reshape the Democratic Party.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 10, 2025 |title=Drawing huge crowds, Bernie Sanders steps into leadership of the anti-Trump resistance |url=https://apnews.com/article/bernie-sanders-democrats-trump-c213d5ae42737c956d46f6f7f17e5abd |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=March 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250310124452/https://apnews.com/article/bernie-sanders-democrats-trump-c213d5ae42737c956d46f6f7f17e5abd |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Peoples | first=Steve | title=Drawing huge crowds, Bernie Sanders emerges as the leader of the anti-Trump resistance | website=PBS News | date=2025-03-10 | url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/drawing-huge-crowds-bernie-sanders-emerges-as-the-leader-of-the-anti-trump-resistance | agency=Associated Press | access-date=2025-06-20 | archive-date=March 21, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250321155526/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/drawing-huge-crowds-bernie-sanders-emerges-as-the-leader-of-the-anti-trump-resistance | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gambino |first=Lauren |date=March 23, 2025 |title=Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the courage to brawl for the working class |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/23/bernie-sanders-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-democrats |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Sanders is credited with influencing a leftward shift in the Democratic Party after his 2016 campaign. An advocate of [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] policies, he opposes [[neoliberalism]] and supports [[workers' self-management]]. He supports [[Universal healthcare|universal]] and [[single-payer healthcare]], paid [[parental leave]], tuition-free tertiary education, a [[Green New Deal]], and [[Workers' control|worker control of production]] through cooperatives, unions, and democratic public enterprises. On foreign policy, he supports reducing [[United States military spending|military spending]], more diplomacy and [[international cooperation]], and greater emphasis on [[labor rights]] and environmental concerns in negotiating international trade agreements. Sanders supports [[workplace democracy]] and has praised elements of the [[Nordic model]].
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{{Progressivism sidebar|politicians}}

==Early life==
[[File:Bernie Sanders 1959 High School Yearbook.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Sanders as a senior in high school, 1959]]
Bernard Sanders was born on September 8, 1941, in the New York City borough of [[Brooklyn]].<ref name="Birth">* {{cite news |last=Horowitz |first=Jason |date=July 24, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders's '100% Brooklyn' Roots Are as Unshakable as His Accent |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/us/politics/bernie-sanderss-100-brooklyn-roots-show-beyond-his-accent.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724153228/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/us/politics/bernie-sanderss-100-brooklyn-roots-show-beyond-his-accent.html |archive-date=July 24, 2015 |access-date=February 18, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}
* {{cite web |title=Bernie Sanders Biography |url=https://www.biography.com/political-figure/bernie-sanders |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103215629/https://www.biography.com/political-figure/bernie-sanders |archive-date=January 3, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2016 |website=Biography.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC}}
* {{cite web |title=Sanders, Bernard (1941 – ) |url=https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=s000033 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217015642/https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=S000033 |archive-date=February 17, 2020 |access-date=February 18, 2016 |website=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |publisher=Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives' Office of History and Preservation and the Office of the Historian of the United States Senate}}</ref> His father, Elias Ben Yehuda Sanders,<ref name=fndr1>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/video/episode-1-the-impression-t9e1xe/ |work=[[Finding Your Roots]] |date=October 3, 2017 |title=Season 4, Episode 1: The Impression |access-date=February 9, 2020 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621052916/https://www.pbs.org/video/episode-1-the-impression-t9e1xe/ |url-status=live}}</ref> a Polish-Jewish immigrant, was born in [[Słopnice]], a town in [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Austrian Galicia]] that was then part of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]] and is now in [[Poland]].<ref name="jtaancestraltown">{{cite news |title=Bernie Sanders' ancestral town in Poland kvells over his Iowa performance |url=https://www.jta.org/2016/02/02/news-opinion/united-states/bernie-sanders-ancestral-town-in-poland-kvells-over-his-iowa-performance |access-date=February 3, 2016 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=February 2, 2016 |archive-date=June 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617115833/https://www.jta.org/2016/02/02/news-opinion/united-states/bernie-sanders-ancestral-town-in-poland-kvells-over-his-iowa-performance |url-status=live}}</ref> Elias Sanders immigrated to the United States in 1921<ref name=haszcz2020>{{cite web |url=https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/02/26/from-poland-to-america-the-travels-of-bernie-sanderss-father-elias/ |title=From Poland to America: the travels of Bernie Sanders's father Elias |last=Haszczyński |first=Jerzy |date=February 26, 2020}}</ref> and became a paint salesman.<ref name="jtaancestraltown"/><ref name="immigrationrecord">New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1957 immigration record: Eliasz Gitman, sailing from Antwerp, mother Jetti Gutman, citizenship in 1927 as Elias Sanders.</ref> Bernie's mother, Dorothy Sanders ({{née|Glassberg}}), was born in New York City.<ref name=gaudiano>{{cite web |last=Gaudiano |first=Nicole |date=April 28, 2015 |title=OnPolitics: 6 things to know about Bernie Sanders |website=[[USA Today]] |url=http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/04/28/6-things-to-know-about-bernie-sanders/ |access-date=July 19, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727170730/http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/04/28/6-things-to-know-about-bernie-sanders/ |archive-date=July 27, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Shoah" /> He is the younger brother of [[Larry Sanders (politician)|Larry Sanders]].

Sanders says he became interested in politics at an early age due to his family background.<ref name="Jewish">* {{cite web |url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/107170-bernie-sanders-quote-about-hitler-winning-an-election-is-powerful-its-also-misleading |title=Bernie Sanders' Quote About Hitler Winning An Election Is Powerful. It's Also Misleading |website=Bustle |date=August 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121053233/http://www.bustle.com/articles/107170-bernie-sanders-quote-about-hitler-winning-an-election-is-powerful-its-also-misleading |archive-date=January 21, 2016 |url-status=live |first=Madhuri |last=Sathish |access-date=December 21, 2019 }}
* {{cite web |last=Feldmann |first=Linda |date=June 11, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders: 'I'm Proud to be Jewish' |website=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |quote='I'm proud to be Jewish,' the Independent from Vermont – and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination – responded Thursday at a press breakfast hosted by the Monitor. Though, he added, 'I'm not particularly religious.' As a child, Sanders said, being Jewish taught him 'in a very deep way what politics is about. A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932,' the senator said. 'He won an election, and 50 million people died as a result of that election in World War II, including 6&nbsp;million Jews. So what I learned as a little kid is that politics is, in fact, very important.' |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/monitor_breakfast/2015/0611/Bernie-Sanders-I-m-proud-to-be-Jewish |access-date=June 13, 2015 |archive-date=April 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423050647/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/monitor_breakfast/2015/0611/Bernie-Sanders-I-m-proud-to-be-Jewish |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/11/02/454051697/sanders-could-be-the-first-jewish-president-but-doesnt-like-to-talk-about-it |access-date=February 9, 2020 |first=Tamara |last=Keith |title=Sanders Could Be The First Jewish President, But He Doesn't Like To Talk About It |date=November 2, 2015 |publisher=[[NPR]] |archive-date=October 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026071255/https://www.npr.org/2015/11/02/454051697/sanders-could-be-the-first-jewish-president-but-doesnt-like-to-talk-about-it |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 1940s, many of his relatives in German-occupied Poland were murdered in [[the Holocaust]].<ref name=fndr1/><ref name="haszcz2020"/><ref name="Shoah">
* {{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/magazine/21Sanders.t.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070124134803/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/magazine/21Sanders.t.html |archive-date=January 24, 2007 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=The Socialist Senator |last=Leibovich |first=Mark |date=January 21, 2007 |work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |access-date=July 18, 2015 |author-link=Mark Leibovich}}
* {{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Amita |date=April 29, 2015 |title=5 Things You Should Know About Bernie Sanders |publisher=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/04/29/399818581/5-things-you-should-know-about-bernie-sanders |access-date=July 19, 2015 |archive-date=March 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312202524/https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/04/29/399818581/5-things-you-should-know-about-bernie-sanders |url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-dem-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/bernie-sanders-hitler-jewish-220350 |title=Sanders: 'My father's family was wiped out by Hitler' |last=McCaskill |first=Nolan D |date=March 6, 2016 |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=April 15, 2017 |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623011502/https://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-dem-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/bernie-sanders-hitler-jewish-220350 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Chana>{{cite news |last1=Chana |first1=Jas |title=Straight Outta Brooklyn, by Way of Vermont: The Bernie Sanders Story |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/192931/bernie-sanders-story |access-date=January 20, 2016 |work=[[Tablet (magazine)|Tablet]] |date=August 20, 2015 |quote=Soltys told them that at the time the Nazis invaded Poland, Romek was the leader of Slopnice's Jewish community. "Which of course," Larry said, "meant he was one of the first to be killed." |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426002534/https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/192931/bernie-sanders-story |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders lived in [[Midwood, Brooklyn]].<ref name="Birth"/> He attended elementary school at [[P.S. 197]], where he won a borough championship on the basketball team.<ref name=untold>{{cite news |last=Bump |first=Philip |date=January 29, 2016 |title=The untold story of Bernie Sanders, high school track star |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/29/the-untold-story-of-bernie-sanders-high-school-track-star/ |access-date=January 29, 2016 |archive-date=February 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223150502/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/29/the-untold-story-of-bernie-sanders-high-school-track-star/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Felsenthal |first=Carol |date=May 4, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders Found Socialism at the University of Chicago |website=[[Chicago (magazine)|Chicago]] |quote=He graduated from Brooklyn's P.S. 197 and James Madison High School where he was captain of his high school track team. |url=https://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/Felsenthal-Files/May-2015/Bernie-Sanders-University-of-Chicago/ |access-date=July 18, 2015 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806100715/https://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/Felsenthal-Files/May-2015/Bernie-Sanders-University-of-Chicago/ |url-status=live}}</ref> He attended Hebrew school in the afternoons and celebrated his [[bar mitzvah]] in 1954.<ref name="stone_p483" /> His older brother [[Larry Sanders (politician)|Larry]] said that during their childhood, the family never lacked food or clothing, but major purchases, "like curtains or a rug", were not affordable.<ref name="Smith">{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Nicola |title=Bernie ropes in British brother for showdown with Clinton |work=Sunday Times |location=London |date=January 17, 2016 |id={{ProQuest|1757568267}}}}</ref>

Sanders attended [[James Madison High School (Brooklyn)|James Madison High School]], where he was captain of the track team and took third place in the New York City indoor one-mile race.<ref name=untold/> In high school, he lost his first election, finishing last of three candidates for the student body presidency with a campaign that focused on aiding [[Korean War]] orphans. Despite the loss, he became active in his school's fundraising activities for Korean orphans, including organizing a charity basketball game.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2020/07/bernie-sanders-bernies-brooklyn-excerpt |title=In Bernie's Brooklyn, Political Revolution Was Mainstream |last=Hamm |first=Theodore |author-link=Theodore Hamm |date=July 7, 2020 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721183629/https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/07/bernie-sanders-bernies-brooklyn-excerpt |url-status=live}}</ref> Sanders attended high school with economist [[Walter Block]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chana |first1=Jas |title=Straight Outta Brooklyn, by Way of Vermont: The Bernie Sanders Story |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/bernie-sanders-story |newspaper=Tablet Magazine |date=August 20, 2015 |publisher=Nextbook Inc |access-date=March 15, 2021 |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502233433/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/bernie-sanders-story |url-status=live}}</ref> When he was 19, his mother died at age 47.<ref name="Shoah"/><ref name=stone_p483/> His father died two years later, in 1962, at age 57.

{{anchor|Civil Rights Movement}}Sanders studied at [[Brooklyn College]] for a year in 1959–1960 before transferring to the [[University of Chicago]] and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1964.<ref name=cnnfastfacts1>{{cite news |title=Bernie Sanders Fast Facts |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/27/us/bernie-sanders-fast-facts/index.html |access-date=October 13, 2015 |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=August 20, 2015 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806111732/https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/27/us/bernie-sanders-fast-facts/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In later interviews, Sanders described himself as a mediocre college student because the classroom was "boring and irrelevant" and said he viewed community activism as more important to his education.<ref name="The Populist Prophet">{{cite magazine |access-date=February 9, 2020 |last=Talbot |first=Margaret |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/12/the-populist-prophet |title=The Populist Prophet |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=October 12, 2015 |archive-date=February 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204194420/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/12/the-populist-prophet |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early career==
===Political activism===
{{main|University of Chicago sit-ins}}

[[File:Bernie Sanders and University of Chicago President George Beadle at Congress of Racial Equality Meeting on Housing Sit-Ins.jpg|thumb|University of Chicago President [[George Beadle]] and Sanders at the CORE meeting on housing sit-ins in [[Ida Noyes Hall]], February 1962.]]
Sanders later described his time in Chicago as "the major period of intellectual ferment in my life."<ref name=chicago>{{cite magazine |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2019/03/bernie-sanders-chicago-speech-university-activism-core-ypsl |title=What Chicago Taught Bernie |last=Kampf-Lassin |first=Miles |date=March 3, 2019 |magazine=Jacobin |access-date=March 4, 2019 |archive-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416232830/https://jacobinmag.com/2019/03/bernie-sanders-chicago-speech-university-activism-core-ypsl |url-status=live}}</ref> While there, he joined the [[Young People's Socialist League (1907)|Young People's Socialist League]] (the youth affiliate of the [[Socialist Party of America]])<ref name=Politico>{{cite web |last=Kruse |first=Michael |date=July 9, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders Has a Secret: Vermont, his son and the hungry early years that made him the surging socialist he is today |website=[[Politico]] |quote=After he graduated from James Madison High School in 1959, he went to Brooklyn College for a year before transferring to the University of Chicago, where he joined the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Student Peace Union, and the Young People's Socialist League. |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-vermont-119927_full.html |access-date=July 18, 2015 |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502161956/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-vermont-119927_full.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> and was active in the [[civil rights movement]] as a student for the [[Congress of Racial Equality]] (CORE) and the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC).<ref name="Shoah"/><ref name="Nichols">{{cite magazine |last=Nichols |first=John |author-link=John Nichols (journalist) |date=July 6, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders Speaks |magazine=[[The Nation]] |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-speaks/ |access-date=July 19, 2015 |archive-date=July 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717115149/http://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-speaks/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Under his chairmanship, the university chapter of CORE merged with the university chapter of the SNCC.<ref name="Mother Jones activism history">{{cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/02/bernie-sanders-core-university-chicago |title=Here's What Bernie Sanders Actually Did in the Civil Rights Movement |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=February 11, 2016 |access-date=February 11, 2016 |last=Murphy |first=Tim |archive-date=May 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519130201/http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/02/bernie-sanders-core-university-chicago |url-status=live}}</ref> In January 1962, he went to a rally at the [[University of Chicago]] administration building to protest university president [[George Wells Beadle]]'s [[Housing segregation in the United States|segregated campus housing policy]]. At the protest, Sanders said, "We feel it is an intolerable situation when Negro and white students of the university cannot live together in university-owned apartments." He and 32 other students then entered the building and camped outside the president's office.<ref name=Frizell/><ref>{{cite news |last=Perlstein |first=Rick |date=January 2015 |title=A political education |magazine=The University of Chicago Magazine |url=https://mag.uchicago.edu/law-policy-society/political-education |access-date=September 10, 2015 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806103255/https://mag.uchicago.edu/law-policy-society/political-education |url-status=live}}</ref> After weeks of sit-ins, Beadle and the university formed a commission to investigate discrimination.<ref name="Craven2015">{{cite news |last=Craven |first=Jasper |date=August 26, 2015 |title=Can Sanders' civil rights experience at U.&nbsp;of&nbsp;C. translate on campaign trail? |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-bernie-sanders-university-of-chicago-met-20150826-story.html |access-date=February 9, 2020 |archive-date=January 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108182818/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bernie-sanders-university-of-chicago-met-20150826-story.html |url-status=live |issn=1085-6706}}</ref> After further protests, the University of Chicago ended racial segregation in private university housing in the summer of 1963.<ref name=chicago />

[[Joan Mahoney]], a member of the University of Chicago CORE chapter at the time and a fellow participant in the sit-ins, described Sanders in a 2016 interview as "a swell guy, a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn, but he wasn't terribly charismatic. One of his strengths, though, was his ability to work with a wide group of people, even those he didn't agree with."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/sep/16/bernie-sanders-civil-rights-protest-chicago-1962-photography |title='He wasn't terribly charismatic': Bernie Sanders leads a civil rights protest in 1962 |last1=Booth |first1=Hannah |date=September 16, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-date=January 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128214948/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/sep/16/bernie-sanders-civil-rights-protest-chicago-1962-photography |url-status=live}}</ref> Sanders once spent a day putting up fliers protesting [[police brutality]], only to notice later that Chicago police had shadowed him and taken them all down.<ref name=Frizell/> He attended the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]], where [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] gave the "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech.<ref name="Shoah"/><ref name =Frizell>{{cite magazine |last=Frizell |first=Sam |url=https://time.com/3896500/bernie-sanders-vermont-campaign-radical/ |access-date=February 9, 2020 |title=The Radical Education of Bernie Sanders |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=May 26, 2015 |archive-date=December 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210203745/http://time.com/3896500/bernie-sanders-vermont-campaign-radical/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=release>{{cite web |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |title=News August 25 |website=Senate.gov |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/082513 |date=August 25, 2013 |access-date=June 17, 2015 |archive-date=February 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206110910/https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/082513 |url-status=dead}}</ref> That summer, Sanders was fined $25 ({{Inflation|US|25|1963|fmt=eq}}) for resisting arrest during a demonstration in [[Englewood, Chicago|Englewood]] against [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation]] in Chicago's public schools.<ref name=chicago /><ref name="Skiba">{{cite news |last=Skiba |first=Katherine |date=February 22, 2016 |title=Arrest photo of young activist Bernie Sanders emerges from Tribune archives |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bernie-sanders-1963-chicago-arrest-20160219-story.html |access-date=May 28, 2018 |archive-date=July 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713083441/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bernie-sanders-1963-chicago-arrest-20160219-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Murphy |first=Tim |date=August 26, 2015 |title=Read 21-Year-Old Bernie Sanders' Manifesto on Sexual Freedom |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/bernie-sanders-university-of-chicago-free-love |access-date=September 10, 2015 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806111732/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/bernie-sanders-university-of-chicago-free-love/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In addition to his civil rights activism during the 1960s and 1970s,<ref name="Mother Jones activism history"/> Sanders was active in several [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|peace and antiwar movements]] while attending the University of Chicago, becoming a member of the [[Student Peace Union]]. He applied for [[conscientious objector]] status during the Vietnam War; his application was eventually turned down, by which point he was too old to be [[Conscription in the United States|drafted]]. Although he opposed the war, Sanders never criticized those who fought in it and has strongly supported [[veterans' benefits]] throughout his political career.<ref name="Washington Post Veterans">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bernie-sanders-on-frontline-for-veterans/2013/04/14/d97c9830-9e04-11e2-a941-a19bce7af755_story.html |title=Bernie Sanders on frontline for veterans |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 14, 2013 |access-date=September 30, 2015 |author=Vogel, Steve |archive-date=February 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211082936/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bernie-sanders-on-frontline-for-veterans/2013/04/14/d97c9830-9e04-11e2-a941-a19bce7af755_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ABC News">{{cite web |last=Parks |first=Mary Alice |date=August 31, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders Applied for 'Conscientious Objector' Status During Vietnam, Campaign Confirms |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-applied-conscientious-objector-status-vietnam-campaign/story?id=33434041 |access-date=September 30, 2015 |archive-date=February 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203081859/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-applied-conscientious-objector-status-vietnam-campaign/story?id=33434041 |url-status=live}}</ref> He was briefly an organizer with the [[United Packinghouse Workers of America]] while in Chicago.<ref name=chicago /> He also worked on the reelection campaign of [[Leon Despres]], a prominent Chicago alderman who opposed then-mayor [[Richard J. Daley]]'s [[Cook County Democratic Party|Democratic Party machine]]. Sanders said that he spent much of his student years reading history, sociology, psychology, and the works of political authors, from [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Abraham Lincoln]], [[John Dewey]], [[Karl Marx]], and [[Erich Fromm]]—"reading everything except what I was supposed to read for class the next day."<ref name="wapo">{{cite news |last=McCrummen |first=Stephanie |date=February 5, 2016 |title=His Most Radical Move |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2016/02/05/his-most-radical-move/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205234023/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2016/02/05/his-most-radical-move |archive-date=February 5, 2016 |access-date=January 21, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Inskeep |first=Steve |date=November 6, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders On Being Jewish And A Democratic Socialist |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/11/06/454970584/bernie-sanders-on-being-jewish-and-a-democratic-socialist |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230223103602/https://www.npr.org/2015/11/06/454970584/bernie-sanders-on-being-jewish-and-a-democratic-socialist |archive-date=February 23, 2023 |publisher=NPR}}</ref>

===Professional history and early years in Vermont===
After graduating from college, Sanders returned to New York City, where he worked various jobs, including Head Start teacher, [[psychiatrist|psychiatric]] aide, and carpenter.<ref name="The Populist Prophet"/> In 1968, he moved to [[Stannard, Vermont]], a town small in both area and population (88 residents at the [[1970 census]]) within Vermont's rural [[Northeast Kingdom]] region, because he had been "captivated by rural life". While there, he worked as a carpenter,<ref name=Politico/> filmmaker, and writer<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/04/30/bernie-sanders-from-hippie-migrant-to-would-be-president/ |access-date=February 9, 2020 |title=Bernie Sanders: From hippie migrant to would-be president |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 30, 2015 |first=Hunter |last=Schwarz |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110103516/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/04/30/bernie-sanders-from-hippie-migrant-to-would-be-president/ |url-status=live}}</ref> who created and sold "radical film strips" and other educational materials to schools.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/the-25-best-things-we-learned-bernie-sanders-book |title=The 25 best things we learned from Bernie Sanders' book |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |date=May 28, 2015 |access-date=February 9, 2020 |first=Alex |last=Seitz-Wald |archive-date=February 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217162157/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/the-25-best-things-we-learned-bernie-sanders-book |url-status=live}}</ref> He also wrote several articles for the alternative publication ''The Vermont Freeman''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sanders |first=Bernard |date=March 29, 1969 |title=Cuba: the Other Side of the Story |url=https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2725548/Sanders-Freeman-Writings.pdf#page=5 |journal=Vermont Freeman |access-date=March 10, 2016 |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310215744/https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2725548/Sanders-Freeman-Writings.pdf#page=5 |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> One article later gained considerable notability as (in service of a larger point) Sanders began it with an explicit and fraught sexual fantasy reference, which—45 years later, after he had become famous—was discovered and widely reported.<ref name=UhOh>[https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/29/410606045/the-bernie-sanders-rape-fantasy-essay-explained NPR, "The Bernie Sanders 'Rape Fantasy' Essay, Explained", 2015] [https://www.vox.com/2015/5/28/8682503/bernie-sanders-rape-fantasy Vox, “She fantasizes being raped by 3 men”: Bernie Sanders’s bizarre 1972 essay on gender", 2015] [https://people.com/tv/bernie-sanders-talks-rape-fantasy-essay-on-late-night-with-seth-meyers/ People, "Bernie Sanders Talks 1972 'Rape Fantasy' Essay: 'I Learned My Lesson'", 2015] [https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/05/29/bernie-sanders-disowns-1972-article-on-womens-fantasies-of-rape/ New York Times, "Bernie Sanders Recants 1972 Article on Women’s Fantasies of Rape"] [https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/484498-bloomberg-adviser-blasts-sanders-for-loopy-1972-essay-mentioning-rape/ The Hill, "Bloomberg adviser blasts Sanders for ‘loopy’ 1972 essay mentioning rape fantasies", 2020] [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-sexually-explicit-essay-resurfaces/story?id=31391231 ABC News, "Bernie Sanders' Sexually Explicit Essay Resurfaces", 2015] [https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-06-03/what-did-we-learn-from-the-overheated-bernie-sanders-rape-fantasy-story- Bloomberg, "What Did We Learn From the Overheated Bernie Sanders Rape Fantasy Story, date unknown] [https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/05/bernie-sanders-sex-article-rape-fantasy-involved-in-1972-piece.html Slate, "Bernie Sanders Wrote an Unusual Article Involving Abusive Sex Fantasies in 1972", 2015] [https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/lets-not-crucify-bernie-sanders-his-sexual-fantasies-essay-charles-c-w-cooke/ National Review, "Let’s Not Crucify Bernie Sanders for His Sexual-Fantasies Essay", 2015]</ref> He lived in the area for several years before moving to the more populous [[Chittenden County, Vermont|Chittenden County]] in the mid-1970s. During his [[2018 United States Senate election in Vermont|2018]] reelection campaign, he returned to the town to hold an event with voters and other candidates.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=BernieSanders |number=1058922975737593856 |access-date=December 17, 2019 |title=I moved to Stannard when I first came to Vermont. I've visited 13 states in the last 3 weeks but coming home to Stannard was very special to me. pic.twitter.com/muk1Ps4mzh |first=Bernie |last=Sanders |date=November 3, 2018}}</ref>

===Liberty Union campaigns===
[[File:Bernie Sanders 1976.jpg|thumb|right|Sanders as candidate for [[Governor of Vermont]], 1976]]
From 1969 to 1971, Sanders resided in [[Montpelier, Vermont|Montpelier]].<ref>{{cite news |date=January 21, 1969 |title=Two Accidents In Montpelier |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-argus-accidents/130486570/ |work=[[Barre Montpelier Times Argus]] |location=Barre, VT |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=August 23, 2023 |archive-date=August 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823005842/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-argus-accidents/130486570/ |url-status=live}}</ref> After moving to [[Burlington, Vermont|Burlington]],<ref>{{cite news |date=October 25, 1971 |title=Third Party Candidates |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/rutland-daily-herald-third-party/130486793/ |work=[[Rutland Herald]] |location=Rutland, VT |page=20 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=August 23, 2023 |archive-date=August 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823004340/https://www.newspapers.com/article/rutland-daily-herald-third-party/130486793/ |url-status=live}}</ref> he began his electoral political career as a member of the [[Liberty Union Party]], a national umbrella party for various socialist-oriented state parties, originating in the [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-war]] movement and the [[People's Party (United States, 1971)|People's Party]]. He ran as the Liberty Union candidate for governor of Vermont in [[1972 Vermont gubernatorial election|1972]] and [[1976 Vermont gubernatorial election|1976]] and as a candidate in the special election for U.S. senator in [[1972 United States Senate special election in Vermont|1972]] and in the general election in [[1974 United States Senate election in Vermont|1974]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.cq.com/members/509 |title=Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) |work=[[Roll Call]] |access-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-date=June 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601153533/http://media.cq.com/members/509 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1974 senatorial race, he finished third (5,901 votes; 4%), behind 34-year-old [[Chittenden County, Vermont|Chittenden County]] state's attorney [[Patrick Leahy]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]; 70,629 votes; 49%) and two-term incumbent U.S. Representative [[Dick Mallary]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]; 66,223 votes; 46%).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.state.vt.us/elections/election-results/election-results-search.aspx?primaryFilterId=12449&secondaryFolderName=1974+Election+Results |title=Election Results Search: 1974 Election Results |work=sec.state.vt.us |quote=Citation for votes (total for Leahy and percentages calculated from spreadsheet) |access-date=May 2, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Nelson |first=Garrison |url=https://vtdigger.org/2014/09/14/garrison-nelson-jim-jeffords-reluctant-rebel-appreciation/ |title=Jim Jeffords: Reluctant Rebel. Section: 1974: Changing the Congressional Guard |work=[[VTDigger]] |date=September 14, 2014 |access-date=May 2, 2015 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806103255/https://vtdigger.org/2014/09/14/garrison-nelson-jim-jeffords-reluctant-rebel-appreciation/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1971, while researching an article for Liberty Union's newspaper ''Movement'', Sanders stayed at Myrtle Hill Farm, a Vermont [[Back-to-the-land movement|back to the land]] commune.<ref name=":16">{{Cite web |last=JNi.Media |date=2016-04-20 |title=New Book: Bernie Sanders Was Kicked Off Vermont Commune for Loafing |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/new-book-bernie-sanders-was-kicked-off-vermont-commune-for-loafing/2016/04/20/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |website=The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Comments |first=View |title=In her new book, Kate Daloz recalls her family's unconventional life in rural Vermont - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2016/05/03/back-land-revisited/mypnUBBabsOLNRqR659fbI/story.html |access-date=2025-06-26 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}</ref> He was asked to leave after three days for failing to contribute physical labor expected of all members.<ref name=":20">{{Cite web |last=Doherty |first=Brian |date=2016-11-20 |title=American Communism |url=https://reason.com/2016/11/20/american-communism/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Some residents complained that Sanders spent his time engaging others in political discussions, distracting them from their work, with one member claiming the only way "any work was going to get accomplished" was if people were pulled out of Sanders's orbit.<ref name=":16" /><ref name=":20" />

The 1976 campaign was the zenith of the Liberty Union's influence, with Sanders collecting 11,317 votes for governor and the party. His strong performance forced the down-ballot races for lieutenant governor and secretary of state to be decided by the state legislature when its vote total prevented either the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] or [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate for those offices from garnering a majority of votes.<ref name=Guma/> But the campaign drained the Liberty Union's finances and energy, and in October 1977, Sanders and the Liberty Union candidate for attorney general, Nancy Kaufman, announced their retirement from the party.<ref name=Guma/><ref name=vgp>{{cite news |last=Siegel |first=Lou |title=Vermont's Third Party: No Longer Just a Fan Club |url=http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/vermonts-third-party-no-longer-just-a-fan-club/Content?oid=2434161 |access-date=March 1, 2016 |work=Vanguard Press |date=June 27, 1978 |via=Seven Days |archive-date=March 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319212425/http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/vermonts-third-party-no-longer-just-a-fan-club/Content?oid=2434161 |url-status=live}}</ref> During the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]], Sanders was one of three electors for the [[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers Party]] in Vermont.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 11, 1980 |title=Socialists Launch Campaign to Get Candidates on Ballot |page=9 |work=[[Rutland Herald]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64274411/rutland-daily-herald/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209184331/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64274411/rutland-daily-herald/ |archive-date=December 9, 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=November 29, 2020}}</ref>

After resigning from the Liberty Union Party in 1977, Sanders worked as a writer and as the director of the nonprofit American People's Historical Society (APHS).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/sen_bernie_sanders.html |url-status=dead |title=Arena Profile: Sen. Bernie Sanders |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723105127/http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/sen_bernie_sanders.html |archive-date=July 23, 2016}}</ref> While with the APHS, he produced a 30-minute documentary about American labor leader [[Eugene V. Debs]], who ran for president five times as the Socialist Party candidate.<ref name=Politico/><ref>{{cite AV media |people=Bernard Sanders |year=1979 |title=Eugene V. Debs: Trade Unionist, Socialist, Revolutionary, 1855–1926 – Introduction |medium=Video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka7qoXPliwQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/ka7qoXPliwQ |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=July 13, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On October 25, 2025, the [[Eugene V. Debs Foundation]] gave Sanders its namesake award, first given to [[John L. Lewis]] in 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-26 |title=Bernie Sanders receives the Eugene V. Debs award |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/bernie-sanders-receives-eugene-v-024147732.html |access-date=2025-10-27 |website=WTWO Terre Haute via Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eugene V. Debs Award – The Eugene V. Debs Foundation |url=https://debsfoundation.org/index.php/landing/eugene-v-debs-award/ |access-date=2025-10-27 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Mayor of Burlington, Vermont (1981–1989)==
{{main|Mayoralty of Bernie Sanders}}

{{see also|Electoral history of Bernie Sanders}}
[[File:City Hall Burlington Vermont from southeast on Main Street.jpg|thumb|upright|250px|Burlington City Hall]]

===Campaigns===
On November 8, 1980, Sanders announced his candidacy for mayor. He formally announced his campaign on December 16 at a City Hall press conference.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 9, 1980 |title=Liberty Unionite to Run For Mayor of Burlington |page=19 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64275859/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213130311/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64275859/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=December 13, 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 13, 1980 |title=UVM Pair to Work for Independent Coalition |page=3 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64276236/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211033410/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64276236/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=December 11, 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> Sanders selected Linda Niedweske as his campaign manager.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 18, 1981 |title=Sanders Opens Campaign Office |page=14 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64331883/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130194700/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64331883/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The [[Citizens Party (United States)|Citizens Party]] attempted to nominate Greg Guma for mayor, but Guma declined, saying it would be "difficult to run against another progressive candidate".<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 16, 1981 |title=Citizens Party Fails To Nominate Candidate |page=2 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64330793/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130193422/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64330793/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Sanders had been convinced to run for the mayoralty by his close friend [[Richard Sugarman]], an Orthodox Jewish professor of religious studies at the [[University of Vermont]], who had shown him a ward-by-ward breakdown of the [[1976 Vermont gubernatorial election]], in which Sanders had run, that showed him receiving 12% of the vote in Burlington despite only getting 6% statewide.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=June 13, 2019 |title=Bernie's Red Vermont |magazine=[[The New Republic]] |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/154086/bernies-red-vermont |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101021943/https://newrepublic.com/article/154086/bernies-red-vermont |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>

Sanders initially won the mayoral election by 22 votes against incumbent mayor Gordon Paquette, Richard Bove, and Joseph McGrath, but the margin was later reduced to 10 votes. Paquette did not contest the results of the recount.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 10, 1981 |title=Board to Conduct Mayoral Recount Friday |page=11 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64504803/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203043453/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64504803/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=December 3, 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Paquette's loss was attributed to his own shortcomings, as he did not campaign or promote his candidacy since neither Sanders nor Bove was seen as a serious challenger. Sanders had not previously won an election.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 2, 1982 |title=It's New Politics vs. Old in Vermont As Mayor Strives to Oust Alderman |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/28/us/it-s-new-politics-vs-old-in-vermont-as-mayor-strives-to-oust-alderman.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709123428/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/28/us/it-s-new-politics-vs-old-in-vermont-as-mayor-strives-to-oust-alderman.html |archive-date=July 9, 2018 |last1=Clendinen |first1=Dudley}}</ref> Paquette was also considered to have lost because he proposed an unpopular $0.65 per $100 raise in taxes that Sanders opposed.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Margolis |first=Jon |date=March 15, 1983 |title=Bernie of Burlington |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/122285/bernie-burlington |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902151917/https://newrepublic.com/article/122285/bernie-burlington |archive-date=September 2, 2019 |magazine=[[The New Republic]]}}</ref> Sanders spent around $4,000 on his campaign.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 2, 1983 |title=Gilson Rejects Campaign Fund Limit |page=17 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64643579/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826170726/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64643579/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=August 26, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>

Sanders castigated the pro-development incumbent as an ally of prominent shopping center developer Antonio Pomerleau, while Paquette warned of ruin for Burlington if Sanders were elected. The Sanders campaign was bolstered by a wave of optimistic volunteers as well as a series of endorsements from university professors, social welfare agencies, and the police union. The result shocked the local political establishment.<ref name="Guma">{{cite book |last=Guma |first=Greg |title=The People's Republic: Vermont and the Sanders Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttETPQAACAAJ |publisher=New England Press |date=1989 |location=South Burlington, Vermont |pages=19–42 |isbn=978-0-933050-78-5 |access-date=December 17, 2019 |archive-date=May 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509100638/https://books.google.com/books?id=ttETPQAACAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders formed a coalition between independents and the Citizens Party.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 3, 1982 |title=Sanders will make it official |page=16 |work=[[Bennington Banner]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64644027/bennington-banner/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826170740/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64644027/bennington-banner/ |archive-date=August 26, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> On December 3, 1982, he announced that he would seek reelection.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 3, 1982 |title=Sanders Announces He's Running Again |page=1 |work=[[Barre Montpelier Times Argus]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64644044/the-times-argus/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826170727/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64644044/the-times-argus/ |archive-date=August 26, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> On January 22, 1983, the Citizens Party voted unanimously to endorse Sanders, although Sanders ran as an independent.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 23, 1983 |title=Citizens Party Endorses Sanders |page=14 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64644113/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202612/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64644113/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> He was reelected, defeating [[Judy Stephany]] and James Gilson.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 2, 1983 |title=Massive Turnout Keeps Mayor Sanders in Office |page=3 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64643449/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901082302/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64643449/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=September 1, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>

Sanders initially considered not seeking a third term but announced on December 5, 1984, that he would run.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 7, 1984 |title=Mayor Sanders to run again |page=2 |work=[[Brattleboro Reformer]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64672822/the-brattleboro-reformer/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826170741/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64672822/the-brattleboro-reformer/ |archive-date=August 26, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> He formally launched his campaign on December 7 and was reelected.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 8, 1984 |title=Sanders Makes It Official |page=6 |work=[[Rutland Herald]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64672843/rutland-daily-herald/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826170735/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64672843/rutland-daily-herald/ |archive-date=August 26, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=March 6, 1985 |title=City Elections At-a-glance |page=2 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64665647/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610035325/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64665647/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=June 10, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> On December 1, 1986, Sanders, who had finished third in the [[1986 Vermont gubernatorial election]], announced that he would seek reelection to a fourth term as mayor of Burlington, despite close associates saying that he was tired of being mayor.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 2, 1986 |title=Sanders Announces for Fourth Term, Says He Has 'Energy and Enthusiasm' |page=1 |work=[[Rutland Herald]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64685742/rutland-daily-herald/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927132720/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64685742/rutland-daily-herald/ |archive-date=September 27, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> Sanders defeated Democratic nominee Paul Lafayette in the election.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1985 |title=1987 election results |page=11 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64684487/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610035316/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64684487/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=June 10, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> He said he would not seek another mayoral term after the 1987 election: "eight years is enough and I think it is time for new leadership, which does exist within the coalition, to come up".<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 7, 1987 |title=Sanders Proclaims '87 Race Will Be His Last Mayoral Bid |page=21 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64868171/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610035312/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64868171/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=June 10, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>

Sanders did not run for a fifth term as mayor. He went on to lecture in political science at [[Harvard Kennedy School]] that year and at [[Hamilton College]] in 1991.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bernie Sanders (I) |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=http://projects.wsj.com/campaign2012/candidates/view/bernie-sanders--VT-S |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307214225/http://projects.wsj.com/campaign2012/candidates/view/bernie-sanders--VT-S |archive-date=March 7, 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=January 18, 2013}}</ref>

===Administration===
[[File:Burlington Mayor Bernard Sanders 1982 Edit.jpg|thumb|right|Sanders speaks at an [[anti-nuclear]] symposium at the [[University of Vermont]], November 11, 1982]]
During his mayoralty, Sanders called himself a [[socialist]] and was described as such in the press.<ref name="Banks">{{cite news |last=Banks |first=Russell |author-link=Russell Banks |date=October 5, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders, the Socialist Mayor |work=[[The Atlantic]] |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/bernie-sanders-mayor/407413/ |access-date=January 21, 2016 |archive-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421164419/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/bernie-sanders-mayor/407413/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="SelfStyledSocialist">{{cite news |date=April 7, 1981 |title=Self-Styled Socialist Takes Oath as Mayor of Burlington, Vermont |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[Boston Globe]]}}</ref> During his first term, his supporters, including the first [[Citizens Party (United States)|Citizens Party]] city councilor [[Terry Bouricius]], formed the Progressive Coalition, the forerunner of the [[Vermont Progressive Party]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Senator Bernie Sanders |website=Vermont Progressive Party |url=https://progressiveparty.org/2009/07/senator-bernie-sanders/ |first=Morgan |last=Daybell |date=July 1, 2009 |access-date=June 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407223525/https://progressiveparty.org/2009/07/senator-bernie-sanders/ |archive-date=April 7, 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Progressives never held more than six seats on the 13-member city council, but they had enough to keep the council from overriding Sanders's vetoes. Under his leadership, Burlington balanced its city budget; attracted a minor league baseball team, the [[Vermont Reds]], then the [[Double-A (baseball)|Double-A]] affiliate of the [[Cincinnati Reds]];<ref name="Shoah"/> became the first US city to fund [[community land trust|community-trust housing]];<ref name="Dreier2015">{{cite web |last1=Dreier |first1=Peter |last2=Clavel |first2=Pierre |title=Bernie's Burlington: What Kind of Mayor Was Bernie Sanders? |website=[[HuffPost]] |date=June 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403083551/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernies-burlington-what-k_b_7510704 |archive-date=April 3, 2019 |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernies-burlington-what-k_b_7510704 |url-status=live |access-date=August 6, 2015}}</ref> and successfully sued the local [[Cable television in the United States|cable television]] franchise, thereby winning reduced rates for customers.<ref name="Shoah"/>

As mayor, Sanders also led extensive [[Urban renewal|downtown revitalization]] projects. One of his primary achievements was improving Burlington's [[Lake Champlain]] waterfront.<ref name="Shoah"/> In 1981, he campaigned against the unpopular plans by Burlington developer Tony Pomerleau to convert the then-industrial<ref name="Gram2015b">{{cite news |url=https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/politics-government/article22907835.html |title=Bernie Sanders kicks off 2016 bid from Clinton's left |work=[[The Bellingham Herald]] |date=May 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20160208054520/http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/politics-government/article22907835.html |archive-date=February 8, 2016 |url-status=live |last1=Gram |first1=Dave |last2=Thomas |first2=Ken |agency=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=December 9, 2015}}</ref> waterfront property owned by the [[Central Vermont Railway]] into expensive condominiums, hotels, and offices.<ref name="Reynolds">{{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=David |date=1997 |title=Democracy Unbound: Progressive Challenges to the Two Party System |publisher=South End Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/democracyunbound00davi/page/162 162] |url=https://archive.org/details/democracyunbound00davi |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-89608-563-3}}</ref> He ran under the slogan "Burlington is not for sale" and successfully supported a plan that redeveloped the waterfront area into a [[mixed-use]] district featuring housing, parks, and public spaces.<ref name="Reynolds"/>

Sanders was a consistent [[Criticism of United States foreign policy|critic of US foreign policy]] in Latin America throughout the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?6046-1/political-parties-america |title=Third Political Parties in America |date=February 3, 1989 |website=[[C-SPAN]] |access-date=November 16, 2018 |minutes=34:27 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405024655/https://www.c-span.org/video/?6046-1/political-parties-america |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1985, Burlington City Hall hosted a foreign policy speech by [[Noam Chomsky]]. In his introduction, he praised Chomsky as "a very vocal and important voice in the wilderness of intellectual life in America" and said that he was "delighted to welcome a person who I think we're all very proud of".<ref>{{cite news |first=Bethania Palma |last=Markus |date=August 11, 2015 |url=https://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/the-bernie-effect-noam-chomsky-says-sanders-will-push-the-entire-democratic-party-to-the-left/ |title=The Bernie effect: Noam Chomsky says Sanders will push the Democratic Party to the left |work=[[The Raw Story]] |access-date=August 21, 2015 |archive-date=December 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217221713/https://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/the-bernie-effect-noam-chomsky-says-sanders-will-push-the-entire-democratic-party-to-the-left/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chomsky Speech at Burlington City Hall – 1985 |date=June 23, 2015 |via=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvZRsdHgxgA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/CvZRsdHgxgA |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=August 21, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Sanders hosted and produced a [[public-access television]] program, ''Bernie Speaks with the Community'', from 1986 to 1988.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/series/bernie-speaks-community |title=Bernie Speaks with the Community |website=[[Center for Media and Democracy]] |access-date=February 10, 2016 |date=September 27, 2011 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102220538/https://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/series/bernie-speaks-community |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Murphy |first=Tim |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/bernie-sanders-cable-access-show-clips |title=I Can't Stop Watching These Old Clips of Bernie Sanders' Cable-Access Show |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=November 10, 2015 |access-date=February 10, 2016 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012135133/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/bernie-sanders-cable-access-show-clips/ |url-status=live}}</ref> He collaborated with 30 Vermont musicians to record a folk album, ''[[We Shall Overcome (Bernie Sanders album)|We Shall Overcome]]'', in 1987.<ref>{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Mark |url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2014/09/17/bernie-sanders-recorded-a-folk-album-no-punchline-required |title=Bernie Sanders Recorded a Folk Album. No Punchline Required |work=[[Seven Days (newspaper)|Seven Days]] |date=September 17, 2014 |access-date=February 10, 2016 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806111005/https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2014/09/17/bernie-sanders-recorded-a-folk-album-no-punchline-required |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kaczynski |first=Andrew |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/watch-this-1980s-bernie-sanders-public-access-show-on-record |title=Watch This 1980s Bernie Sanders Public Access Show On Recording His Folk Album |website=[[BuzzFeed]] |date=June 25, 2015 |access-date=February 10, 2016 |archive-date=July 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710102810/https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/watch-this-1980s-bernie-sanders-public-access-show-on-record |url-status=live}}</ref> That same year, ''[[US News & World Report]]'' ranked Sanders one of America's best mayors.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1989/04/01/bernie-sanders-socialism/71a77c33-1573-4bb0-b59b-265e4c409ebc/ |title=Bernie Sanders' Socialism |first=Colman |last=McCarthy |date=April 1, 1989 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=February 18, 2020 |archive-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219064349/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1989/04/01/bernie-sanders-socialism/71a77c33-1573-4bb0-b59b-265e4c409ebc/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/press-release-hes-rock |title=Press Release – 'He's a Rock' |website=The American Presidency Project|access-date=February 18, 2020|archive-date=February 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218230248/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/press-release-hes-rock|url-status=dead}}</ref> {{As of|2013}}, Burlington was regarded as one of the most livable cities in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=10 Great Places to Live, 2013 |publisher=kiplinger.com |date=July 25, 2013 |url=https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/real-estate/T006-S003-10-great-places-to-live-2013/index.html |access-date=December 17, 2019 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806111732/https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/real-estate/t006-s003-10-great-places-to-live-2013/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cillizza |first=Chris |date=August 20, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders: The 'Uncola' of American politics |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/08/20/bernie-sanders-is-the-uncola-of-american-politics/ |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110103500/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/08/20/bernie-sanders-is-the-uncola-of-american-politics/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

During a trip to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1988, Sanders interviewed the mayor of Burlington's sister city [[Yaroslavl]] about housing and health care issues in the two cities.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sanders |first1=Bernard |title=Bernie Sanders compares the US and the USSR |url=https://soundcloud.com/gdnusaudio/bernie-sanders-compares-the-us-and-the-ussr |website=Soundcloud |publisher=GDN US Audio |access-date=September 15, 2023 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012083130/https://soundcloud.com/gdnusaudio/bernie-sanders-compares-the-us-and-the-ussr |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Horowitz |first1=Jason |title=Bernie Sanders May Hear the Word 'Socialist' More, From Democrats |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/04/08/bernie-sanders-may-hear-the-word-socialist-more-from-democrats/ |access-date=September 15, 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 8, 2016 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012083128/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/04/08/bernie-sanders-may-hear-the-word-socialist-more-from-democrats/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

When Sanders left office in 1989, Bouricius, a member of the Burlington city council, said that Sanders had "changed the entire nature of politics in Burlington and also in the state of Vermont".<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 4, 1989 |title=Friends honor Sanders as he says goodbye |page=1 |work=[[The Burlington Free Press]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/64758086/the-burlington-free-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122183444/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64758086/the-burlington-free-press/ |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>

==U.S. House of Representatives (1991–2007)==
{{See also|Electoral history of Bernie Sanders}}
[[File:Bernie Sanders 104th Congress.jpg|thumb|upright|Sanders's first congressional portrait photograph, 1991]]

===Elections===
In 1988, incumbent Republican congressman [[Jim Jeffords]] decided to run for the U.S. Senate, vacating the House seat representing [[Vermont's at-large congressional district]]. Former [[Lieutenant Governor of Vermont|lieutenant governor]] [[Peter P. Smith]] won the House election with a plurality, securing 41% of the vote. Sanders, who ran as an independent, placed second with 38% of the vote, while Democratic state representative [[Paul N. Poirier]] placed third with 19%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1988 U.S. House General Election |url=https://electionarchive.vermont.gov/elections/view/75810/ |access-date=May 18, 2022 |website=[[Vermont Secretary of State]] |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210614152110/https://electionarchive.vermont.gov/elections/view/75810/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Two years later, he ran for the seat again and defeated Smith by a margin of 56% to 39%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/308177/Rep10.pdf |title=Vermont State archives – General Election Results |access-date=March 31, 2016 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220174638/https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/308177/Rep10.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>
Sanders was the first independent elected to the U.S. House of Representatives since [[Frazier Reams]] of [[Ohio]] won his second term in 1952,<ref name=Pertman>{{cite news |last=Pertman |first=Adam |date=November 11, 1990 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112214456/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294560914.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov%2011,%201990&author=Adam%20Pertman,%20Globe%20Staff&pub=Boston%20Globe%20(pre-1997%20Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=&desc=%27THE%20TIMES%20CAUGHT%20UP%27%20TO%20VERMONT%20SOCIALIST |access-date=February 14, 2020 |title='The Times Caught Up' To Vermont Socialist |work=[[Boston Globe]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/294560914 |url-status=live |archive-date=November 12, 2013 |id={{ProQuest|294560914}} }}</ref> as well as the first socialist elected to the House since [[Vito Marcantonio]], from the [[American Labor Party]], who won his last term in 1948.<ref name=Daly>{{cite news |last=Daly |first=Christopher B. |date=November 11, 1990 |title=For Vermont's Sanders, Victory Followed Long Path; First Socialist Elected to House in Decades Gets Attention With Frank Talk of Class Conflict |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/11/for-vermonts-sanders-victory-followed-long-path/36a3036c-d738-4039-a728-891ae9aba9f5/ |access-date=March 18, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107101122/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/11/for-vermonts-sanders-victory-followed-long-path/36a3036c-d738-4039-a728-891ae9aba9f5/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Pertman/> Sanders was a representative from 1991 until he became a senator in 2007, winning reelection by large margins except during the 1994 [[Republican Revolution]], when he won by 3%, with 50% of the vote.<ref name="Carle1995">{{cite web |url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1994/94Stat.htm#45 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1994 |date=May 12, 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151114171645/http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1994/94Stat.htm |archive-date=November 14, 2015 |url-status=live |editor-last=Carle |editor-first=Robin H.}}</ref>

===Legislation===
[[File:Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders 1993 (1).jpg|thumb|right|Sanders meeting in 1993 with Hillary Clinton to discuss [[Clinton health care plan of 1993|her plan]] to reform the healthcare system]]
During his first year in the House, Sanders often alienated allies and colleagues with his criticism of both political parties as [[Corporatocracy|working primarily on behalf of the wealthy]]. In 1991, he co-founded the [[Congressional Progressive Caucus]], a group of mostly liberal Democrats that he chaired for its first eight years,<ref name="Shoah"/> while still refusing to join the Democratic Party or caucus.<ref name=":17">{{cite news |title=Is Bernie Sanders a Democrat? |url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/feb/23/bernie-sanders-democrat/ |access-date=October 17, 2016 |work=[[PolitiFact]] |first=Linda |last=Qiu |date=February 23, 2016 |archive-date=December 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205075233/https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/feb/23/bernie-sanders-democrat/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2005, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' called Sanders the "amendment king" for his ability to get more roll call amendments passed than any other congressman during the period since 1995, when Congress was entirely under Republican control. Being an independent allowed him to form coalitions across party lines.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/inside-the-horror-show-that-is-congress-177955/ |access-date=February 14, 2020 |title=Inside the Horror Show That Is Congress |first=Matt |last=Taibbi |author-link=Matt Taibbi |date=August 25, 2005 |archive-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216234250/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/inside-the-horror-show-that-is-congress-177955/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Banking reform====
In 1999, Sanders voted and advocated against rolling back the [[Glass–Steagall legislation]] provisions that kept [[investment banks]] and commercial banks separate entities.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reformer.com/stories/who-should-pay,37444 |title=Who should pay? |work=Brattleboro Reformer |date=September 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529131100/http://www.reformer.com/reformereditorials/ci_10535992 |archive-date=May 29, 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> He was a vocal critic of [[Chair of the Federal Reserve|Federal Reserve chair]] [[Alan Greenspan]]; in June 2003, during a question-and-answer discussion, Sanders told him he was concerned that he was "way out of touch" and "that you see your major function in your position as the need to represent the wealthy and large corporations."<ref>{{cite press release |title=Statement of Congressman Sanders on 7/16/2003 regarding: Congressman Sanders' Questioning of Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan |work=bernie.house.gov |url=http://bernie.house.gov/statements/20030716135257.asp |access-date=August 29, 2010 |date=July 16, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926023514/http://bernie.house.gov/statements/20030716135257.asp |archive-date=September 26, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |people=Bernie Sanders, Alan Greenspan |date=July 15, 2003 |title=Monetary Policy Report |medium=Motion Picture |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?177412-1/monetary-policy-report&start=5352 |access-date=December 18, 2019 |time=1:29:12 |location=House Financial Services Committee |publisher=[[C-SPAN]] |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621104504/https://www.c-span.org/video/?177412-1/monetary-policy-report&start=5352 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Edmund L. |last=Andrews |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 23, 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/business/economy/24panel.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024131506/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/business/economy/24panel.html |archive-date=October 24, 2008 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=February 14, 2020 |title=Greenspan Concedes Error on Regulation}}</ref><ref name="NPR">{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96070766 |title=Greenspan Admits Free Market Ideology Flawed |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=October 24, 2008 |access-date=January 18, 2016 |last=Naylor |first=Brian |archive-date=March 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316165321/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96070766 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Cancer registries====
Concerned by high breast cancer rates in Vermont, on February 7, 1992, Sanders sponsored the Cancer Registries Amendment Act to establish [[cancer registry|cancer registries]] to collect data on cancer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reynolds |first1=Tom |title=Cancer Data Bases Expanding |journal=Journal of the National Cancer Institute |date=May 6, 1992 |volume=84 |issue=9 |pages=839–841 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2XkrRkNM16cC&pg=PA841 |access-date=January 22, 2020 |doi=10.1093/jnci/84.11.839 |pmid=1593651 |archive-date=May 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509110423/https://books.google.com/books?id=2XkrRkNM16cC&pg=PA841#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live |issn=0027-8874 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=H.R.4206 – Cancer Registries Amendment Act |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/house-bill/4206 |access-date=January 22, 2020 |date=February 28, 1992 |work=[[United States Congress]] |via=[[Congress.gov]] |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621004251/https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/house-bill/4206 |url-status=live}}</ref> Senator Patrick Leahy introduced a companion bill in the Senate on October 2, 1992. The Senate bill was passed by the House on October 6 and signed into law by President [[George H. W. Bush]] on October 24, 1992.<ref>{{Cite web |title=S.3312 – Cancer Registries Amendment Act |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/3312/actions |access-date=January 22, 2020 |date=October 24, 1992 |work=[[United States Congress]] |via=[[Congress.gov]] |archive-date=February 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223162353/https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/3312/actions |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Firearms and criminal justice====
In 1993, Sanders voted against the [[Brady Bill]], which mandated federal background checks when buying guns and imposed a waiting period on firearm purchasers in the United States; the bill passed by a vote of 238–187.<ref name="Tampa Bay Times">{{cite web |last=Qiu |first=Linda |date=July 10, 2015 |title=Did Bernie Sanders vote against background checks and waiting periods for gun purchases? |website=[[PolitiFact]] |url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/10/generation-forward-pac/did-bernie-sanders-vote-against-background-checks-/ |access-date=August 31, 2015 |archive-date=January 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108180930/https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/10/generation-forward-pac/did-bernie-sanders-vote-against-background-checks-/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Final Vote Results for Roll Call 614 |website=US House of Representatives |publisher=Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives |url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1993/roll614.xml |access-date=November 17, 2014 |archive-date=January 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104103806/http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1993/roll614.xml |url-status=live}}</ref> He voted against the bill four more times in the 1990s, explaining that his Vermont constituents saw waiting-period mandates as more appropriately a state rather than a federal matter.<ref>{{cite web |last=Qiu |first=Linda |date=July 10, 2015 |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/jul/10/generation-forward-pac/did-bernie-sanders-vote-against-background-checks-/ |title=Did Bernie Sanders vote against background checks and waiting periods for gun purchases? |website=[[PolitiFact]] |access-date=May 4, 2020 |archive-date=June 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601194055/https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/jul/10/generation-forward-pac/did-bernie-sanders-vote-against-background-checks-/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders did vote for other gun-control measures.<ref>{{Cite book |title=What Happened |title-link=What Happened (Clinton book) |last=Clinton |first=Hillary |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5011-7556-5 |page=186}}</ref><ref name="Tampa Bay Times"/> For example, in 1994, he voted for the [[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act]] "because it included the [[Violence Against Women Act]] and the ban on certain assault weapons." He was nevertheless critical of the other parts of the bill.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jonathan |last=Capehart |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/02/25/hillary-clinton-responds-to-activist-who-demanded-apology-for-superpredator-remarks/ |access-date=February 14, 2020 |title=Hillary Clinton on 'superpredator' remarks: 'I shouldn't have used those words' |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 25, 2016 |archive-date=December 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229175201/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/02/25/hillary-clinton-responds-to-activist-who-demanded-apology-for-superpredator-remarks/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Where do Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders stand on the death penalty? |date=September 2, 2015 |first=Will |last=Cabaniss |work=[[PolitiFact]] |url=https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/sep/02/viral-image/where-do-hillary-clinton-and-bernie-sanders-stand-/ |access-date=February 26, 2016 |archive-date=December 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220151343/https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/sep/02/viral-image/where-do-hillary-clinton-and-bernie-sanders-stand-/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Although he acknowledged that "clearly, there are some people in our society who are horribly violent, who are deeply sick and [[antisocial personality disorder|sociopathic]], and clearly these people must be put behind bars in order to protect society from them", he maintained that governmental policies played a large part in "dooming tens of millions of young people to a future of bitterness, misery, hopelessness, drugs, crime, and violence" and argued that the repressive policies introduced by the bill were not addressing the causes of violence, saying, "we can create meaningful jobs, rebuilding our society, or we can build more jails."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-1994-04-13/html/CREC-1994-04-13-pt1-PgH49.htm |work=[[Congressional Record]] |volume=140 |issue=39 |date=April 13, 1994 |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Publishing Office]] |access-date=December 18, 2019 |title=Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. 4092, Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806154253/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-1994-04-13/html/CREC-1994-04-13-pt1-PgH49.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders has at times favored stronger law enforcement and sentencing. In 1996, he voted against a bill that would have prohibited police from purchasing tanks and armored carriers.<ref name="Kristian 2016"/><ref>{{cite web |title=H.R.728 – Local Government Law Enforcement Block Grants Act of 1995 |date=February 22, 1995 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-bill/728 |work=[[United States Congress]] |via=[[Congress.gov]] |access-date=February 11, 2019 |archive-date=February 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020208/https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-bill/728 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1998, he voted for a bill that would have increased minimum sentencing for possessing a gun while committing a federal crime to ten years in prison, including nonviolent crimes such as [[marijuana]] possession.<ref name="Kristian 2016">{{cite news |last1=Kristian |first1=Bonnie |title=Bernie Sanders is not nearly as progressive as you think he is |url=https://theweek.com/articles/603044/bernie-sanders-not-nearly-progressive-think |access-date=February 11, 2019 |work=The Week |date=February 9, 2016 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806154250/https://theweek.com/articles/603044/bernie-sanders-not-nearly-progressive-think |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Tampa Bay Times"/><ref>{{cite web |title=HR 424 – Minimum Sentences for Gun Crimes – National Key Vote |url=https://votesmart.org/bill/2915/8175/27110/minimum-sentences-for-gun-crimes |website=votesmart.org |publisher=[[Vote Smart]] |access-date=February 11, 2019 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728074449/https://votesmart.org/bill/2915/8175/27110/minimum-sentences-for-gun-crimes |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2005, Sanders voted for the [[Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Final Vote Results for Roll Call 534 |publisher=Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives |url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll534.xml |access-date=July 18, 2007 |archive-date=July 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070729063914/http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll534.xml |url-status=live}}</ref> The purpose of the act was to prevent firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable for negligence when crimes have been committed with their products.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bradner |first=Eric |date=July 5, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders wants to 'bring us to the middle' on guns |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/05/politics/bernie-sanders-gun-control/ |access-date=July 6, 2015 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621004245/https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/05/politics/bernie-sanders-gun-control/ |url-status=live}}</ref> {{as of|2016}}, he said that he has since changed his position and would vote for legislation to defeat this bill.<ref name=":11" />

====Opposition to the Patriot Act====
Sanders was a consistent critic of the [[Patriot Act]].<ref name="blogs.wsj.com">{{cite web |last=Tau |first=Byron |date=May 7, 2015 |title=Rand Paul, Bernie Sanders Revel in NSA Ruling |website=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/05/07/rand-paul-bernie-sanders-revel-in-nsa-ruling/ |access-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-date=October 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029061456/https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/05/07/rand-paul-bernie-sanders-revel-in-nsa-ruling/ |url-status=live}}</ref> As a member of Congress, he voted against the original Patriot Act legislation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Final Vote Results for Roll Call 398 |publisher=Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives |url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2001/roll398.xml |access-date=May 19, 2015 |archive-date=February 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205082816/http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2001/roll398.xml |url-status=live}}</ref> After its 357–66 passage in the House, he sponsored and voted for several subsequent amendments and acts attempting to curtail its effects<ref>{{cite web |last=Hudson |first=David L. Jr. |date=May 25, 2004 |title=Patriot Act |website=Libraries and First Amendment |publisher=First Amendment Center |url=https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/libraries-first-amendment-overview/patriot-act/ |access-date=May 19, 2015 |archive-date=February 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223175947/https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/libraries-first-amendment-overview/patriot-act/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and voted against each reauthorization.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=May 7, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders: It's Time To End Orwellian Surveillance of Every American |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=https://time.com/3850839/bernie-sanders-usa-patriot-act/ |access-date=July 19, 2015 |archive-date=February 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204170529/https://time.com/3850839/bernie-sanders-usa-patriot-act/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2005, he proposed an amendment to limit Patriot Act provisions that allow the government to obtain individuals' library and book-buying records. The amendment passed the House by a bipartisan majority but was removed on November{{nbsp}}4 of that year in House–Senate negotiations and never became law.<ref>{{cite journal |date=November 4, 2005 |title=Sanders' Freedom to Read Language Dropped from Spending Bill |publisher=[[American Library Association]] |journal=American Library Association Washington Office Newsline |volume=14 |number=107 |url=http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washnews/2005ab/107nov04.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060604000337/http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washnews/2005ab/107nov04.htm |archive-date=June 4, 2006}}</ref>

====Opposition to the War in Iraq====
[[File:Bernie Sanders at Milton High School - Milton, Vermont.jpg|thumb|Sanders meeting with students at Milton High School in Milton, Vermont, 2004]]
Sanders voted against the [[Iraq Resolution|resolutions]] authorizing the use of force against Iraq in 1991 and 2002, and he opposed the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]]. He voted for the 2001 [[Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Final Vote Results for Roll Call 342 |publisher=Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives |url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2001/roll342.xml |access-date=October 13, 2014 |archive-date=December 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161218185845/http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2001/roll342.xml |url-status=live}}</ref> that has been cited as the legal justification for controversial military actions since the September 11 attacks.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnsen |first=Gregory D. |date=January 16, 2014 |title=60 Words And A War Without End: The Untold Story Of The Most Dangerous Sentence In U.S. History |publisher=[[BuzzFeed News]] |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/gregorydjohnsen/60-words-and-a-war-without-end-the-untold-story-of-the-most |access-date=October 13, 2014 |archive-date=April 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422212344/https://www.buzzfeed.com/gregorydjohnsen/60-words-and-a-war-without-end-the-untold-story-of-the-most |url-status=live}}</ref> He especially opposed the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]]'s decision to start a war unilaterally.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sanders' opposition to the Iraq War was more complicated than he presents |first=Heidi |last=Przybyla |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/sanders-opposition-iraq-war-was-more-complicated-he-presents-n1137541 |access-date=December 19, 2022 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=February 17, 2020 |language=en |archive-date=December 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220000043/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/sanders-opposition-iraq-war-was-more-complicated-he-presents-n1137541 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Haltiwanger |first=John |title=Bernie Sanders revisits his vote against the Iraq War, which started 16 years ago today, and says much of what he feared came true |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-revisits-vote-against-iraq-war-16th-anniversary-invasion-2019-3 |date=March 20, 2019 |access-date=December 19, 2022 |website=[[Business Insider]] |language=en-US |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126041450/https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-revisits-vote-against-iraq-war-16th-anniversary-invasion-2019-3 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Trade policy====
In February 2005, Sanders introduced a bill that would have withdrawn the [[permanent normal trade relations]] (PNTR) status that had been extended to China in October 2000. He said to the House, "Anyone who takes an objective look at our trade policy with China must conclude that it is an absolute failure and needs to be fundamentally overhauled", citing the American jobs being lost to overseas competitors. His bill received 71 co-sponsors but was not sent to the floor for a vote.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kusumi |first=John |title=Monster Versus Monster: the Democratic Race |year=2008 |publisher=Nolanchart}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=H.R.728 – To withdraw normal trade relations treatment from the products of the People's Republic of China. |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-bill/728 |work=[[United States Congress]] |via=[[Congress.gov]] |date=February 25, 2005 |access-date=February 26, 2020 |archive-date=February 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227010419/https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-bill/728 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==U.S. Senate (2007–present)==

===Elections===
====2006====
{{Main|2006 United States Senate election in Vermont}}

[[File:Bernie Sanders.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Senate portrait, 2007]]

Sanders entered the race for the U.S. Senate on April 21, 2005, after Senator [[Jim Jeffords]] announced that he would not seek a fourth term. [[Chuck Schumer]], chair of the [[Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee]] and fellow [[James Madison High School (Brooklyn)|James Madison High School]] alumnus, endorsed Sanders. This was a critical move because it meant no Democrat running against him could expect financial help from the party. He was also endorsed by [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate minority leader]] [[Harry Reid]] and [[Democratic National Committee]] chair and former Vermont governor [[Howard Dean]]. Dean said in May 2005 that he considered Sanders an ally who "votes with the Democrats 98% of the time".<ref>{{cite web |date=May 22, 2005 |title=Transcript for May 22: Guest: Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic Party |work=[[Meet the Press]] |publisher=[[NBC News]] |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7924139 |access-date=August 1, 2011 |archive-date=March 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330011255/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7924139 |url-status=live}}</ref> Then-Senator [[Barack Obama]] also campaigned for him in Vermont in March 2006.<ref>{{cite web |last=Krieg |first=Gregory |date=July 9, 2015 |title=Watch Young Senator Barack Obama Campaign for Bernie Sanders in 2006 |publisher=mic.com |quote=Back in March 2006, the future president traveled to Vermont to headline a rally and fundraiser for then-Rep. Bernie Sanders, an independent running for Senate, and Pete Welch, a Democrat seeking election to Sanders's House seat. |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/122011/watch-young-senator-barack-obama-campaign-for-bernie-sanders-in-2006 |access-date=July 20, 2015 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108140033/https://www.mic.com/articles/122011/watch-young-senator-barack-obama-campaign-for-bernie-sanders-in-2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> Sanders entered into an agreement with the Democratic Party, much as he had as a congressman, to be listed in their primary but to decline the nomination should he win, which he did.<ref>{{cite news |last=Taylor |first=Jessica |date=June 24, 2015 |title=This Quirky New Hampshire Law Might Keep Bernie Sanders Off The Ballot |publisher=[[NPR]] |quote=He did appear on the Democratic primary ballot in Vermont for the Senate in both 2006 and 2012, winning their primary, but he declined the nomination both times so he could run as an independent. |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/24/416929786/this-quirky-new-hampshire-law-might-keep-sanders-off-the-ballot |access-date=July 20, 2015 |archive-date=November 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123205202/https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/24/416929786/this-quirky-new-hampshire-law-might-keep-sanders-off-the-ballot |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Nichols |first=John |author-link=John Nichols (journalist) |date=May 26, 2015 |title='Don't Underestimate Me': Bernie Sanders Knows a Thing or Two About Winning |work=The Nation |quote=When Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords, a Republican who turned independent in his last term, announced that he was stepping down in 2006, Sanders jumped into a race that a number of Democrats would have liked to run. He won the Democratic primary and then declined the nomination, mounting an audacious independent run that was not supposed to be easy. |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/why-bernie-sanders-says-dont-underestimate-me/ |access-date=July 20, 2015 |archive-date=July 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717002914/http://www.thenation.com/article/why-bernie-sanders-says-dont-underestimate-me/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Bernie Sanders January 2013.jpg|thumb|Sanders being sworn in for his second term in 2013 by Joe Biden]]
In the most expensive political campaign in Vermont's history,<ref name="BGlobe-110706">{{cite news |last=Ring |first=Wilson |date=November 7, 2006 |title=Sanders, Welch are winners in Vermont |work=[[Boston Globe]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2006/VT/2006-11-08-us-congress_x.htm |access-date=January 25, 2007}}</ref> Sanders defeated businessman [[Rich Tarrant]] by an almost 2-to-1 margin. Many national media outlets projected him as the winner just after the polls closed, before any returns came in.

====2012====
{{Main|2 = 2012 United States Senate election in Vermont}}

Sanders was reelected in 2012 with 71% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee [[John MacGovern]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Vermont Election Results |website=Decision 2012 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |url=http://elections.nbcnews.com/ns/politics/2012/vermont/ |access-date=April 21, 2013 |date=December 2, 2011 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726205055/http://elections.nbcnews.com/ns/politics/2012/vermont/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

====2018====
{{Main|3 = 2018 United States Senate election in Vermont}}

Sanders was reelected in 2018 with 67% of the vote, defeating real estate broker and Republican nominee Lawrence Zupan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/914457/2018-ge-winnerlisting.pdf |title=Vermont electoral results, 2018 |last=Vermont Secretary of State |date=November 2018 |website=State of Vermont |access-date=February 4, 2019 |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108053637/https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/914457/2018-ge-winnerlisting.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

====2024====

{{Main|2024 United States Senate election in Vermont}}

On May 6, 2024, Sanders announced his candidacy for a fourth Senate term.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Wang |first1=Amy B. |last2=Goodwin |first2=Liz |date=May 6, 2024 |title=Sen. Bernie Sanders to seek reelection to fourth term |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/05/06/bernie-sanders-seeks-reelection-fourth-term/ |access-date=May 7, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thurston |first=Jack |date=May 6, 2024 |title=Bernie Sanders announces 2024 reelection campaign |url=https://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont-senator-bernie-sanders-2024-reelection/60700457 |access-date=May 7, 2024 |publisher=WPTZ |language=en |archive-date=May 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240507082623/https://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont-senator-bernie-sanders-2024-reelection/60700457 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRMICNBXp2Q |title=Announcement from Senator Bernie Sanders |language=en |access-date=May 7, 2024 |via=YouTube |archive-date=May 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240507112008/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRMICNBXp2Q |url-status=live}}</ref> A poll just a few weeks earlier found that more than half of respondents wanted him to seek reelection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mearhoff |first=Sarah |date=April 23, 2024 |title=Poll: Majority of Vermonters want Scott, Sanders to run for reelection |url=http://vtdigger.org/2024/04/23/poll-majority-of-vermonters-want-scott-sanders-to-run-for-reelection/ |access-date=May 7, 2024 |website=VTDigger |language=en-US |archive-date=May 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508161340/https://vtdigger.org/2024/04/23/poll-majority-of-vermonters-want-scott-sanders-to-run-for-reelection/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Sanders faced Republican nominee Gerald Malloy, who ran against Senator [[Peter Welch]] in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pastor |first1=Adrian |title=Gerald Malloy files for another run for US Senate seat in upcoming election |url=https://www.mynbc5.com/article/gerald-malloy-files-for-another-run-for-us-senate-seat-in-upcoming-election/60929310 |website=NBC5 |date=May 29, 2024 |access-date=May 29, 2024}}</ref> Sanders was reelected and has said this term will likely be his last.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 5, 2024 |title=Sen. Bernie Sanders wins a fourth term representing Vermont |url=https://apnews.com/article/vermont-senate-election-bernie-sanders-malloy-72c069e0772d4743313f83b2e68fd37f |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Last">{{Cite web |date=December 10, 2024 |title=Sanders says this is likely his last term |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/10/bernie-sanders-senate-term-00193608 |access-date=December 10, 2024 |website=Politico |language=en}}</ref>

===Legislation===
While a member of Congress, Sanders sponsored 15 concurrent resolutions and 15 Senate resolutions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Member Activity by Bernard Sanders |url=https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?s=6&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22bernie+sanders%22%5D%2C%22type%22%3A%22resolutions%22%2C%22sponsorship%22%3A%22sponsored%22%7D |access-date=January 21, 2020 |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623183925/https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?s=6&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22bernie+sanders%22%5D%2C%22type%22%3A%22resolutions%22%2C%22sponsorship%22%3A%22sponsored%22%7D |url-status=live}}</ref> Of those he co-sponsored, 218 became law.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legislative Search Results |url=https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?s=6&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22bernie+sanders%22%5D%2C%22sponsorship%22%3A%22cosponsored%22%2C%22bill-status%22%3A%22law%22%7D |access-date=January 21, 2020 |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623183839/https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?s=6&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22bernie+sanders%22%5D%2C%22sponsorship%22%3A%22cosponsored%22%2C%22bill-status%22%3A%22law%22%7D |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Legislative Search Results |url=https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?s=6&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22bernie+sanders%22%5D%2C%22bill-status%22%3A%22law%22%2C%22sponsorship%22%3A%22sponsored%22%7D |access-date=January 21, 2020 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621004244/https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?s=6&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22bernie+sanders%22%5D%2C%22bill-status%22%3A%22law%22%2C%22sponsorship%22%3A%22sponsored%22%7D |url-status=live}}</ref> While he has consistently advocated for progressive causes, ''[[Politico]]'' wrote that he has "rarely forged actual legislation or left a significant imprint on it".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/bernies-record-220508 |first=Edward-Isaac |last=Dovere |title=Sanders had big ideas but little impact on Capitol Hill |work=[[Politico]] |date=March 12, 2016 |access-date=June 4, 2018 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806165413/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/bernies-record-220508 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', "Big legislation largely eludes Mr. Sanders because his ideas are usually far to the left of the majority of the Senate&nbsp;... Mr. Sanders has largely found ways to press his agenda through appending small provisions to the larger bills of others."<ref>{{Cite news |first=Jennifer |last=Steinhauer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/us/politics/bernie-sanders-amendments.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314191714/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/us/politics/bernie-sanders-amendments.html |archive-date=March 14, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Via Legislative Side Doors, Bernie Sanders Won Modest Victories |date=March 14, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=June 4, 2018 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> During his time in the Senate, he had lower legislative effectiveness than the average senator, as measured by the number of sponsored bills that passed and successful amendments made.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/04/07/hillary-clinton-was-a-more-effective-lawmaker-than-bernie-sanders/ |title=Hillary Clinton was a more effective lawmaker than Bernie Sanders |last=Lazarus |first=Jeffrey |date=April 7, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=June 4, 2018 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=September 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929080002/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/04/07/hillary-clinton-was-a-more-effective-lawmaker-than-bernie-sanders/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Nevertheless, he has sponsored over 500 amendments to bills,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Member Activity by Bernard Sanders |website=congress.gov |url=https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?s=6&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22bernie+sanders%22%5D%2C%22type%22%3A%22amendments%22%2C%22sponsorship%22%3A%22sponsored%22%7D |access-date=January 22, 2020 |archive-date=October 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029035044/https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?s=6&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22bernie+sanders%22%5D%2C%22type%22%3A%22amendments%22%2C%22sponsorship%22%3A%22sponsored%22%7D |url-status=live}}</ref> many of which became law. The results of these amendments include a ban on imported goods made by child labor; $100&nbsp;million in funding for community health centers; $10&nbsp;million for an outreach program for servicemembers who have [[post-traumatic stress disorder]], traumatic brain injury, depression, panic attacks, and other mental disorders; a public database of senior [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] officials seeking employment with defense contractors; and including autism treatment under the military healthcare program [[Tricare]].<ref name=Levitz/>

In August 2022, Sanders voted for the [[Inflation Reduction Act of 2022]].<ref>{{cite news |title=What's in the Climate, Tax and Health Care Package |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/07/us/politics/climate-tax-health-care-bill.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 7, 2022 |access-date=August 12, 2022 |last1=Cochrane |first1=Emily |last2=Friedman |first2=Lisa |archive-date=August 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811221802/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/07/us/politics/climate-tax-health-care-bill.html |url-status=live}}</ref> He was not satisfied with the bill, calling it only a small step forward. Sanders joined with Democrats to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which capped the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare to $35 a month and allowed Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress – 2nd Session |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00325.htm |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=senate.gov |archive-date=August 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827192045/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00325.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Finance and monetary policy====
In 2008 and 2009, Sanders voted against the [[Troubled Asset Relief Program]] (TARP), a program to purchase toxic banking assets and provide loans to banks that were in free-fall.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Eugene |last=Kiely |url=https://www.factcheck.org/2016/03/clinton-sanders-bailout-brawl/ |title=Clinton-Sanders Bailout Brawl - FactCheck.org |date=March 7, 2016 |work=FactCheck.org |access-date=June 4, 2018 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806165421/https://www.factcheck.org/2016/03/clinton-sanders-bailout-brawl/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/07/hillary-clinton/michigan-hillary-clinton-says-bernie-sanders-was-a/ |title=In Michigan, Hillary Clinton says Bernie Sanders 'was against the auto bailout' |work=[[PolitiFact]] |access-date=June 4, 2018 |first=Lauren |last=Carroll |date=March 7, 2016 |archive-date=December 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218110052/https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/07/hillary-clinton/michigan-hillary-clinton-says-bernie-sanders-was-a/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On February 4, 2009, he sponsored an amendment to ensure that TARP funds would not displace US workers. The amendment passed and was added to the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009]].<ref name=Levitz>{{cite news |last1=Levitz |first1=Eric |title=Hillary Clinton Won't Commit to Endorsing Sanders If He Wins Nomination |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/01/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-attack-hollywood-reporter-fact-check.html |access-date=January 22, 2020 |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York Intelligencer]] |date=January 21, 2020 |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101105216/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/01/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-attack-hollywood-reporter-fact-check.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=S.Amdt.306 to S.Amdt.98: To require recipients of TARP funding to meet strict H-1B worker hiring standard to ensure non-displacement of U.S. workers. |url=https://www.congress.gov/amendment/111th-congress/senate-amendment/306 |access-date=January 22, 2020 |date=February 6, 2009 |archive-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205013527/https://www.congress.gov/amendment/111th-congress/senate-amendment/306 |url-status=live}}</ref> Among his proposed financial reforms is [[Federal Reserve Transparency Act|auditing the Federal Reserve]], which would reduce its independence in monetary policy deliberations; Federal Reserve officials say that "Audit the Fed" legislation would expose the Federal Reserve to undue political pressure from lawmakers who do not like its decisions.<ref name="Robb">{{Cite news |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/audit-the-fed-bill-fails-despite-support-from-paul-sanders-2016-01-12 |date=January 12, 2016 |title='Audit the Fed' bill fails despite support from Paul, Sanders |last=Robb |first=Greg |work=[[MarketWatch]] |access-date=December 16, 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529020156/https://www.marketwatch.com/story/audit-the-fed-bill-fails-despite-support-from-paul-sanders-2016-01-12 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="usnews.com">{{cite web |title=Democrats Kill Rand Paul's Audit the Fed Bill, Though Sanders Votes Yes |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-01-12/democrats-kill-rand-pauls-audit-the-fed-bill-though-sanders-votes-yes |last=Nelson |first=Steven |date=January 12, 2016 |website=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112230625/http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-01-12/democrats-kill-rand-pauls-audit-the-fed-bill-though-sanders-votes-yes |archive-date=January 12, 2016 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Schroeder">{{Cite news |url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/265556-sanders-to-back-audit-the-fed-bill |title=Sanders to vote for Paul's 'Audit the Fed' bill |last=Schroeder |first=Peter |date=January 12, 2016 |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=December 16, 2017 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012135136/https://thehill.com/policy/finance/265556-sanders-to-back-audit-the-fed-bill/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Bernie Sanders - full 2010-12-10 filibuster.webm|thumb|right|Sanders spoke for more than eight hours in his December 2010 [[filibuster]].]]

On December 10, 2010, Sanders delivered an 8-hour and 34-minute speech against the [[Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010]],{{efn|A long speech such as this is commonly known as a [[filibuster]], but because it did not block action, it was not technically a filibuster under Senate rules.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 10, 2010 |title=Senator Sanders Filibuster |publisher=[[C-SPAN]] |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?297021-5/senator-sanders-filibuster |access-date=June 1, 2015 |archive-date=April 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415081400/https://www.c-span.org/video/?297021-5/senator-sanders-filibuster |url-status=live}}</ref>}} which proposed extending the [[Bush-era tax rates]]. He argued that the legislation would favor the wealthiest Americans. "Enough is enough!&nbsp;... How many homes can you own?" he asked.<ref name="Filibuster">{{cite news |date=December 10, 2010 |last=Memoli |first=Michael A. |title=Sen. Bernie Sanders ends filibuster |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-dec-10-la-pn-sanders-filibuster-20101211-story.html |access-date=August 1, 2011 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806171923/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-dec-10-la-pn-sanders-filibuster-20101211-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Burleigh |first=Nina |date=October 25, 2011 |title=Bernie Sanders' war on the banks |website=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |url=https://www.salon.com/2011/10/25/bernie_sanders_war_on_the_banks/ |access-date=July 19, 2015 |archive-date=December 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203124216/https://www.salon.com/2011/10/25/bernie_sanders_war_on_the_banks/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-holds-old-school-filibuster-against-obama-gop-tax-cut-deal/ |title=Bernie Sanders Holds Old-School Filibuster Against Obama-GOP Tax Cut Deal |last=Condon |first=Stephanie |date=December 10, 2010 |access-date=May 14, 2018 |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016085128/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-holds-old-school-filibuster-against-obama-gop-tax-cut-deal/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Nevertheless, the bill passed the Senate with a strong majority and was signed into law a week later.<ref name="tpmdc-vote">{{cite news |author=Beutler, Brian |date=December 16, 2010 |url=http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/house-passes-tax-cut-plan-obama-to-sign.php |title=House Passes Tax Cut Plan, Obama To Sign &#124; |work=[[Talking Points Memo]] |access-date=December 17, 2010 |archive-date=December 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220080813/http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/house-passes-tax-cut-plan-obama-to-sign.php |url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2011, [[Nation Books]] published the speech as ''[[The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class]]'', with authorial proceeds going to Vermont [[nonprofit organization|nonprofit charitable organizations]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/03/15/sanders-85-hour-tax-cut-filibuster-gets-a-book |title=Sanders's 8.5 Hour Tax Cut Filibuster Gets a Book |first=Paul |last=Bedard |magazine=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=March 15, 2011 |access-date=May 15, 2016 |archive-date=February 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225051439/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/03/15/sanders-85-hour-tax-cut-filibuster-gets-a-book |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2016, Sanders voted for the [[Federal Reserve Transparency Act]], which included proposals for a reformed audit of the Federal Reserve System.<ref name="Robb"/><ref name="usnews.com"/><ref name="Schroeder"/>

====Foreign policy====
On June 12, 2017, U.S. senators agreed to legislation imposing [[Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act|new sanctions]] on Russia and [[Iran]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Bernie's Vote On Sanctions Was About Protecting The Iran Deal From Trump |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernies-vote-on-sanctions-was-about-protecting-the-iran-deal-from-trump_b_597df7f8e4b0da64e879b55e |first=Ida |last=Adibi |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=July 30, 2017 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019160215/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernies-vote-on-sanctions-was-about-protecting-the-iran-deal-from-trump_b_597df7f8e4b0da64e879b55e |url-status=dead}}</ref> The bill was opposed only by Sanders and Republican [[Rand Paul]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dw.com/en/us-bill-on-russia-sanctions-prompts-german-austrian-outcry/a-39270624 |title=US bill on Russia sanctions prompts German, Austrian outcry |agency=dpa, AP, Reuters, AFP |access-date=August 30, 2023 |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |date=June 15, 2017 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621004242/https://www.dw.com/en/us-bill-on-russia-sanctions-prompts-german-austrian-outcry/a-39270624 |url-status=live}}</ref> He supported the sanctions on Russia, but voted against the bill because he believed the sanctions could endanger the [[Iran nuclear deal]].<ref>{{cite press release |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=June 15, 2017 |title=Sanders Statement on Iran and Russia Sanctions |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-iran-and-russia-sanctions |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[United States Senate]] |access-date=August 27, 2019 |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109164255/https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-iran-and-russia-sanctions |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2018, Sanders sponsored a bill and was joined by senators [[Chris Murphy]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]–[[List of United States senators from Connecticut|CT]]) and [[Mike Lee]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]–[[List of United States senators from Utah|UT]]) to invoke the [[War Powers Resolution|1973 War Powers Resolution]] to end US support for the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen|Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen]],<ref name=":4">{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/12/12/676152310/senate-poised-to-vote-to-end-u-s-military-support-for-war-in-yemen |title=Senate votes to end U.S. support for war in Yemen, rebuking Trump and Saudi Arabia |last=Detrow |first=Scott |date=December 13, 2018 |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=January 1, 2019 |archive-date=December 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211115832/https://www.npr.org/2018/12/12/676152310/senate-poised-to-vote-to-end-u-s-military-support-for-war-in-yemen |url-status=live}}</ref> which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties<ref name=":5">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/after-inadequate-briefing-saudi-arabia-senate-advances-bill-end-u-n941386 |title=Senate advances bill to end U.S. involvement in Yemen war after 'inadequate' briefing on Saudi Arabia |last=Caldwell |first=Leigh Ann |date=November 28, 2018 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=January 1, 2019 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806171855/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/after-inadequate-briefing-saudi-arabia-senate-advances-bill-end-u-n941386 |url-status=live}}</ref> and "millions more suffering from starvation and disease".<ref name=":14">{{cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/11/28/18116442/yemen-war-powers-senate-vote-sanders |title=The Senate is moving closer to ending US support for the war in Yemen |last=Ward |first=Alex |date=November 28, 2018 |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |access-date=January 1, 2019 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806171857/https://www.vox.com/2018/11/28/18116442/yemen-war-powers-senate-vote-sanders |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/54 |title=Senate Joint Resolution 54 of the 115th Congress: A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress |date=December 19, 2018 |website=[[Congress.gov]] |access-date=January 1, 2019 |archive-date=June 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604135030/https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/54 |url-status=live}}</ref> After the [[assassination of Jamal Khashoggi]] in October 2018 (which was ordered by Saudi Arabian [[Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia|crown prince]] [[Mohammad bin Salman]], according to multiple intelligence agencies),<ref name=":4"/><ref name=":5"/><ref name=":14"/><ref name=":15">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/us/politics/yemen-saudi-war-pompeo-mattis.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213193916/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/us/politics/yemen-saudi-war-pompeo-mattis.html |archive-date=December 13, 2018 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Senate votes to end aid for Yemen fight over Khashoggi killing and Saudis' war aims |author1=Eric Davis |author2=Julie Hirschfeld |date=December 13, 2018 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 1, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> his bill attracted bipartisan co-sponsors and support, and the Senate passed it by a vote of 56–41.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1152/vote_115_2_00266.htm |title=Roll Call Vote 115th Congress – 2nd Session |website=Senate.gov |quote=Vote Number 266 |date=December 13, 2018 |access-date=December 20, 2019 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604230532/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1152/vote_115_2_00266.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The bill passed the House in February 2019 by a 247–175 vote and President Trump vetoed it in March, saying: "This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future."<ref>{{cite news |first1=Felicia |last1=Sonmez |first2=Josh |last2=Dawsey |first3=Karoun |last3=Demirjian |title=Trump vetoes resolution to end U.S. participation in Yemen's civil war |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-vetoes-resolution-to-end-us-participation-in-yemens-civil-war/2019/04/16/0fabc312-60a1-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=January 21, 2020 |date=April 16, 2019 |archive-date=December 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209073250/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-vetoes-resolution-to-end-us-participation-in-yemens-civil-war/2019/04/16/0fabc312-60a1-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[Gaza war]], Sanders introduced several [[Arms Export Control Act|Joint Resolutions of Disapproval]] to block arms to Israel. All failed, but some Democrats voted for them. In November 2024, one such resolution garnered support from 18 senators. In April 2025, 15 senators supported another. In July 2025, 27 senators supported a resolution, a majority of Senate Democrats.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kelly |first1=Laura |title=Record number of Senate Democrats vote to block weapon sales for Israel |url=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5429072-sanders-resolution-fails-israel-military/ |website=thehill.com |date=July 30, 2025 |publisher=The Hill |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref>

====Health care====
[[File:Don't Take Our Health Care Rally (35501942056).jpg|thumb|Don't Take Our Health Care rally in [[Columbus, Ohio]], June 2017]]
[[File:Senator Bernie Sanders debates HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the American Medical Association - September 4, 2025.webm|thumb|thumbtime=4:35|Sanders debates HHS Secretary [[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]] over the [[American Medical Association]]; September 2025]]
In mid-December 2009, Sanders successfully added a provision to the [[Affordable Care Act]] to fund $11&nbsp;billion to [[community health centers]], especially those in [[Medical deserts in the United States|rural areas]]. The provision brought together Democrats on the left with Democrats from conservative, rural areas, helping to secure the 60 votes needed for passage.<ref name=Levitz/> On May 4, 2017, in response to the House vote to [[Efforts to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act|repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act]], he predicted "thousands of Americans would die" from no longer having access to health care.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/04/politics/bernie-sanders-republican-health-care-bill-anderson-cooper-cnntv/ |title=Thousands will die if House bill becomes law, Bernie Sanders says |first=Leinz |last=Vales |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=May 4, 2017 |access-date=December 21, 2019 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112021737/http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/04/politics/bernie-sanders-republican-health-care-bill-anderson-cooper-cnntv/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[PolitiFact]] rated his statement "mostly true".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jun/27/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-projection-thousands-added-deaths-g/ |title=Bernie Sanders' projection of 'thousands' of deaths from lost health coverage is well-supported |last=Jacobson |first=Louis |date=June 27, 2017 |website=[[PolitiFact]] |access-date=June 29, 2017 |archive-date=January 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114153848/https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jun/27/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-projection-thousands-added-deaths-g/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In September 2017, Sanders along with 15 Senate co-sponsors submitted the Medicare for All bill, a [[single-payer healthcare]] plan. The bill covers vision and dental care, unlike Medicare. Some Republicans have called the bill "Berniecare" and "the latest Democratic push for socialized medicine and higher taxes." He responded that the Republican Party has no credibility on the issue of health care after voting for legislation that would take health insurance away from 32&nbsp;million Americans under the [[Affordable Care Act]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kurtzleben |first1=Danielle |title=Here's What's In Bernie Sanders' 'Medicare For All' Bill |date=September 14, 2017 |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/09/14/550768280/heres-whats-in-bernie-sanders-medicare-for-all-bill |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-date=December 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211001041/https://www.npr.org/2017/09/14/550768280/heres-whats-in-bernie-sanders-medicare-for-all-bill |url-status=live}}</ref>

As chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, Sanders introduced legislation in 2013 to reauthorize and strengthen the [[Older Americans Act]], which supports [[Meals on Wheels]] and other programs for seniors.<ref>{{cite press release |date=May 23, 2013 |title=Older Americans Act |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/2013/05/23/older-americans-act |website=Sanders.Senate.gov |access-date=July 4, 2015 |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109031033/https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/2013/05/23/older-americans-act |url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Immigration policy====
In 2007, Sanders helped kill a bill introducing comprehensive immigration reform, arguing that its guest-worker program would depress wages for American workers.<ref name=":13">{{Cite news |first=Seung Min |last=Kim |date=June 19, 2015 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/bernie-sanders-and-immigration-its-complicated-119190 |title=Sanders and immigration? It's complicated |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=June 4, 2018 |language=en |archive-date=December 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212165626/https://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/bernie-sanders-and-immigration-its-complicated-119190 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, he supported the [[DREAM Act]], which would have provided a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the United States as minors.<ref name=":13" /> In 2013, he supported the [[Gang of Eight (immigration)|Gang of Eight]]'s comprehensive immigration reform bill after securing a $1.5&nbsp;billion youth jobs program provision, which he argued would offset the harm of labor market competition with immigrants.<ref name=":13" /> In a March 2025 interview, Sanders said that Biden failed to properly curb illegal immigration and commended Trump for strengthening border immigration policies, adding, "nobody thinks illegal immigration is appropriate", while also criticizing mass deportations and calling for comprehensive immigration reform.<ref name="sandersfetanyl">{{Cite news |first=Robert |last=Tait |title=Bernie Sanders admits Biden failed to tackle illegal immigration |date=March 24, 2025 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/24/bernie-sanders-trump-biden-immigration |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=April 21, 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

====Income and wealth distribution====
[[File:Sanders Introduces $15 Minimum Wage.jpg|thumb|Sanders introduced legislation to [[Fight for $15|raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour]], April 2017.]]

In April 2017, Sanders introduced a bill that would raise the [[Minimum wage in the United States|minimum wage]] for federal contract workers to $15 an hour, an increase over an earlier Democratic $12 an hour proposal.<ref name = Lachman >{{cite news |first=Samantha |last=Lachman |date=July 22, 2015 |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-minimum-wage-bill_n_55afbbd1e4b0a9b9485332eb |title=Bernie Sanders Introduces $15 Minimum Wage Bill As Federal Contract Workers Strike |work=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=August 18, 2015 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108113307/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-minimum-wage-bill_n_55afbbd1e4b0a9b9485332eb |url-status=live}}</ref> On May 9, 2018, he introduced the [[Workplace Democracy Act]], a bill that would expand labor rights by making it easier for workers to join a union, ban [[right-to-work laws]] and some anti-union provisions of the [[Taft–Hartley Act]], and outlaw some union-busting tactics. Announcing the legislation, he said, "If we are serious about reducing income and wealth inequality and rebuilding the middle class, we have got to substantially increase the number of union jobs in this country."<ref>{{cite news |last=Kampf-Lassin |first=Miles |date=May 9, 2018 |title=Bernie Sanders Has a Sweeping Plan to Expand Union Rights and Workplace Democracy |url=http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/21130/bernie_sanders_labor_unions_workplace_democracy_elizabeth_warren |work=[[In These Times (publication)|In These Times]] |access-date=May 12, 2018 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726202431/http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/21130/bernie_sanders_labor_unions_workplace_democracy_elizabeth_warren |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders opposed the [[2018 United States federal budget]] proposed by the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]], calling it "a budget for the billionaire class, for Wall Street, for corporate CEOs, and for the wealthiest people in this country&nbsp;... nothing less than a massive transfer of wealth from working families, the elderly, children, the sick and the poor to the top 1%."<ref>{{cite news |date=May 24, 2017 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/24/opinions/trump-budget-is-immoral-sanders-opinion/ |title=Bernie Sanders: Trump's budget is immoral |last1=Sanders |first1=Bernie |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=October 25, 2017 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112023442/http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/24/opinions/trump-budget-is-immoral-sanders-opinion/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the November 2017 revelations from the [[Paradise Papers]] and a recent report from the [[Institute for Policy Studies]] which says just three people ([[Jeff Bezos]], [[Bill Gates]], and [[Warren Buffett]]) own more [[Distribution of wealth|wealth]] than the bottom half of the U.S. population, Sanders stated that "we must end global [[oligarchy]]" and that "we need, in the United States and throughout the world, a tax system which is fair, progressive and transparent."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/13/opinions/oligarchy-paradise-papers-bernie-sanders-opinion/index.html |title=Bernie Sanders: We must end global oligarchy |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=November 13, 2017 |access-date=November 13, 2017 |publisher=[[CNN]] |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109032115/https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/13/opinions/oligarchy-paradise-papers-bernie-sanders-opinion/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

On September 5, 2018, Sanders partnered with [[Ro Khanna]] to introduce the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies (Stop [[Jeff Bezos|BEZOS]]) Act, which would require large corporations to pay for the food stamps and Medicaid benefits that their employees receive, relieving the burden on taxpayers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/5/17822810/bernie-sanders-bill-bezos-amazon-ro-khanna |title=Bernie Sanders's BEZOS bill takes aim at how Amazon pays workers |first=Emily |last=Stewart |publisher=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |date=September 5, 2018 |access-date=September 14, 2018 |archive-date=September 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914094424/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/5/17822810/bernie-sanders-bill-bezos-amazon-ro-khanna |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Santus |first=Rex |date=October 2, 2018 |title=Jeff Bezos just caved to activists and Bernie Sanders and raised Amazon's minimum wage to $15 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/jeff-bezos-just-caved-to-activists-and-bernie-sanders-and-raised-amazons-minimum-wage-to-dollar15/ |work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |access-date=October 4, 2018 |quote=What Mr. Bezos today has done is not only enormously important for Amazon's hundreds of thousands of employees. It could well be, and I think it will be, a shot heard around the world. |archive-date=June 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627125628/https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/yw4n7j/jeff-bezos-just-caved-to-activists-and-bernie-sanders-and-raised-amazons-minimum-wage-to-dollar15 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Veterans affairs====
[[File:Bernie Sanders talking to soldiers.jpg|thumb|Sanders speaking to members of the [[Vermont Army National Guard]] sent to Washington, D.C. as [[security preparations for the inauguration of Joe Biden]] in 2021]]
On June 9, 2014, Sanders sponsored the [[Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014]] to reform the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Department of Veterans Affairs]] in the wake of the [[Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014]]. He worked with Senator [[John McCain]], who co-sponsored the bill.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Herb |first1=Jeramy |title=Sanders, McCain strike VA deal |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/bernie-sanders-john-mccain-va-deal-107491 |access-date=January 22, 2020 |work=[[Politico]] |date=June 5, 2014 |archive-date=December 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203064430/https://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/bernie-sanders-john-mccain-va-deal-107491 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=S.2450 – Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/2450/all-actions |website=Congress of the United States |date=June 11, 2014 |access-date=January 22, 2020 |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623013013/https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/2450/all-actions |url-status=live}}</ref> His bill was incorporated into the House version of the bill, which passed both chambers on July 31, 2014, and was signed into law by President Obama on August 7, 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=H.R.3230 – Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/3230/actions |website=congress.gov |date=August 7, 2014 |access-date=January 22, 2020 |archive-date=August 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822123003/https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/3230/actions |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Supreme Court nominees===
On March 17, 2016, Sanders said he would support [[Merrick Garland]]'s nomination to the Supreme Court, though he added, "there are some more progressive judges out there."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/bernie-sanders-convention-220954 |title=Sanders: I wouldn't have picked Garland for Supreme Court |first1=Hanna |last1=Trudo |first2=Nick |last2=Gass |work=[[Politico]] |date=March 17, 2016 |access-date=December 20, 2019 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806181405/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/bernie-sanders-convention-220954 |url-status=live}}</ref> He opposed [[Neil Gorsuch]]'s nomination to the court, saying that Gorsuch had "refused to answer legitimate questions".<ref name = "hill"/> He also objected to Senate Republicans' use of the [[nuclear option]] to "choke off debate and ram [Gorsuch's] nomination through the Senate".<ref name = "hill">{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/325453-sanders-to-oppose-gorsuchs-nomination |title=Sanders to oppose Gorsuch's nomination |first=Jordain |last=Carney |newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |date=March 23, 2017 |access-date=December 20, 2019 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012140636/https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/325453-sanders-to-oppose-gorsuchs-nomination/ |url-status=live}}</ref> He voted against Gorsuch's confirmation as an [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|associate justice]] and against Trump's nominees [[Brett Kavanaugh]] and [[Amy Coney Barrett]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/07/us/politics/gorsuch-confirmation-vote.html |title=How Senators Voted on the Gorsuch Confirmation |last=Carlsen |first=Audrey |date=April 7, 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=May 14, 2018 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621004244/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/07/us/politics/gorsuch-confirmation-vote.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Knapp |first1=Emily |last2=Griffiths |first2=Brent |last3=McClure |first3=Jon |title=Kavanaugh Senate confirmation vote count: Here's how senators voted |url=https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/brett-kavanaugh-senate-confirmation-vote-count/ |access-date=February 26, 2023 |website=[[Politico]] |date=October 6, 2018 |archive-date=February 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226031118/https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/brett-kavanaugh-senate-confirmation-vote-count/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 116th Congress – 2nd Session |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1162/vote_116_2_00224.htm |access-date=February 26, 2023 |website=senate.gov |archive-date=February 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205112904/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1162/vote_116_2_00224.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2022, Sanders voted to confirm Joe Biden's [[Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court nomination|nominee]] [[Ketanji Brown Jackson]] to the Supreme Court.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress – 2nd Session |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00134.htm |access-date=February 26, 2023 |website=senate.gov}}</ref>

===Committee assignments===
As an independent, Sanders maintains an agreement with the Senate Democratic leadership where he votes with the Democrats on all procedural matters unless the Democratic [[Assistant Majority Leader|whip]], [[Dick Durbin]], agrees that he need not (a request rarely made or granted). In return he was allowed to keep his seniority and received the committee seats that would have been available to him as a Democrat; in 2013–14 he was chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs]] (during the [[Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014|Veterans Health Administration scandal]]).<ref name=vet>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2015/10/15/bernie-sanders-veterans-affairs-griffin-dnt-ac.cnn |title=Bernie Sanders criticized for leadership in VA committee |work=[[Anderson Cooper 360°]] |publisher=[[CNN]] |first=Anderson |last=Cooper |date=October 15, 2015 |access-date=December 18, 2019 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621004312/https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2015/10/15/bernie-sanders-veterans-affairs-griffin-dnt-ac.cnn |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=hillcommittee>{{cite web |last=Needham |first=Vicki |date=December 12, 2014 |title=Senate Democrats lock in key committee memberships |website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/227000-senate-democrats-set-key-committee-memberships |access-date=July 19, 2015 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012135134/https://thehill.com/policy/finance/227000-senate-democrats-set-key-committee-memberships/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders became the [[Ranking member|ranking minority member]] on the [[United States Senate Committee on the Budget|Senate Budget Committee]] in 2015 and the chair in 2021; he previously chaired the [[Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee]] for two years. Since 2017, he has been chair of the [[United States Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee|Senate Democratic Outreach Committee]].<ref name=hillcommittee/> He appointed economics professor [[Stephanie Kelton]], a [[modern monetary theory]] scholar, as the chief economic adviser for the committee's Democratic minority and presented a report about helping "rebuild the disappearing middle class" that included proposals to raise the minimum wage, boost [[Infrastructure-based development|infrastructure spending]], and increase [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] payments.<ref>{{cite web |last=Resnikoff |first=Ned |date=February 19, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders, mulling presidential run, adopts novel stance on deficit |publisher=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/19/bernie-sanders-mulling-2016-bid-adopts-a-novel-stance-on-the-deficit.html |access-date=March 25, 2015 |archive-date=March 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319181409/http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/19/bernie-sanders-mulling-2016-bid-adopts-a-novel-stance-on-the-deficit.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 119th United States Congress Committee Assignments ===
Source:<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Senate: Committee Assignments of the 119th Congress |url=https://www.senate.gov/general/committee_assignments/assignments.htm#WarnerVA |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=senate.gov |archive-date=May 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512200450/https://www.senate.gov/general/committee_assignments/assignments.htm#WarnerVA |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[United States Senate Committee on the Budget|Committee on the Budget]] 
* [[United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works|Committee on Environment and Public Works]]
* [[United States Senate Committee on Finance|Committee on Finance]]
* [[United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions|Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions]] (ranking member)
* [[United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs|Committee on Veterans' Affairs]]

===Caucus memberships===
Sanders was only the third senator from Vermont to caucus with the Democrats, after Jeffords and Leahy. His caucusing with the Democrats gave them a 51–49 majority in the Senate during the [[110th United States Congress|110th Congress]] in 2007–08. The Democrats needed 51 seats to control the Senate because Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] would likely have broken potential [[List of tie-breaking votes cast by Vice Presidents of the United States|ties]] in favor of the Republicans.<ref name="Jones">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781568587141 |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781568587141/page/27 27] |publisher=Nation Books |title=Rebuild the Dream |isbn=978-1-56858-715-8 |date=April 3, 2012}}</ref> He is a member of the following caucuses:
* [[Congressional Progressive Caucus]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Caucus Members |url=https://progressives.house.gov/caucus-members |access-date=March 29, 2021 |website=Congressional Progressive Caucus |language=en |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215407/https://progressives.house.gov/caucus-members |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate]]
* [[Afterschool Caucuses|United States Senate Afterschool Caucus]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Members |url=http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/policyCongressionalCaucuses.cfm |publisher=Afterschool Alliance |access-date=April 17, 2018 |archive-date=December 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223234650/http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/policyCongressionalCaucuses.cfm |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Approval ratings===
Polling conducted in August 2011 by [[Public Policy Polling]] found that Sanders's approval rating was 67% and his disapproval rating 28%, making him then the third-most popular US senator.<ref name="Easley"/> Both the [[NAACP]] (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and the [[National Hispanic Leadership Agenda|NHLA]] (National Hispanic Leadership Agenda) have given him 100% voting scores during his tenure in the Senate.<ref name="Ackerman2015">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/06/sanders-race-primary-president-civil-rights/ |title=Give the People What They Want: Bernie Sanders' signature issues aren't 'white' issues |magazine=Jacobin |date=June 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721162037/http://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/06/sanders-race-primary-president-civil-rights/ |archive-date=July 21, 2015 |url-status=live |last=Ackerman |first=Seth |issn=2158-2602}}</ref> In 2015, he was named one of the Top{{nbsp}}5 of ''[[The Forward]]'' 50.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 11, 2015 |url=https://forward.com/series/forward-50/2015/ |title=Forward 50 2015 |newspaper=[[The Forward]] |access-date=November 11, 2015 |archive-date=July 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713140014/https://forward.com/series/forward-50/2015/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In a November 2015 [[Morning Consult]] poll, he reached an 83% approval rating among his constituents, making him the most popular US senator.<ref name="newsweek.com"/> [[Fox News]] found him to have the highest net favorability at +28 points of any prominent politician included in its March 2017 poll.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/17/everyone-loves-bernie-sanders-except-democratic-party |first=Trevor |last=Timm |access-date=December 18, 2019 |title=Everyone loves Bernie Sanders. Except, it seems, the Democratic party |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=March 17, 2017 |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623011504/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/17/everyone-loves-bernie-sanders-except-democratic-party |url-status=live}}</ref> He ranked third in 2014 and first in both 2015 and 2016.<ref name="newsweek.com">{{cite news |first=Taylor |last=Wofford |access-date=December 18, 2019 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-most-popular-senator-397853 |title=Bernie Sanders Is America's Most Popular Senator, New Survey Says |work=[[Newsweek]] |date=November 24, 2015 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806181405/https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-most-popular-senator-397853 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Easley">{{cite web |last=Easley |first=Jason |date=August 2, 2011 |title=Americans Love Socialism: Bernie Sanders Is The 3rd Most Popular US Senator |website=Politics USA |url=http://archives.politicususa.com/2011/08/02/socialism-bernie-sanders.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229152746/http://archives.politicususa.com/2011/08/02/socialism-bernie-sanders.html |archive-date=December 29, 2014 |access-date=July 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Newsweek">{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-most-popular-senator-453479 |title=Bernie Sanders is America's Most Popular Senator, Mitch McConnell its Least |website=[[Newsweek]] |date=April 28, 2016 |access-date=September 17, 2016 |author=Wofford, Taylor |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806181404/https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-most-popular-senator-453479 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2017, a nationwide Harvard-Harris Poll found that Sanders had the highest favorability rating among all the political figures included in the poll,<ref name="thehill.com" /> a standing confirmed by subsequent polling.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/347811-poll-mcconnell-the-countrys-least-popular-politician |title=Poll: McConnell the country's least popular politician |newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |date=August 24, 2017 |first=Jonathan |last=Easley |access-date=May 9, 2019 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012140645/https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/347811-poll-mcconnell-the-countrys-least-popular-politician/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==2016 presidential campaign==
{{main|Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign|2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries}}

[[File:Bernie Sanders rally in Portland, Oregon, August 2015 (20261929680).jpg|thumb|Sanders rally in Portland, Oregon, August 2015]]
[[File:Bernie Sanders at Rutgers, May 2016.jpg|thumb|Sanders speaking at [[Rutgers University]] in May 2016]]

During the [[2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2012 Democratic presidential primaries]], Sanders—dissatisfied with President Obama's "attempts to trade [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] cuts for tax hikes"—reportedly considered running against him in the primaries. Sanders had previously suggested in 2011 that it was "a good idea" for someone to challenge Obama and "got so close to running a primary challenge&nbsp;... that Senator [[Harry Reid]] had to intervene to stop him."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levitz |first1=Eric |title=Sanders Considered Primarying Obama in 2012: Report |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/bernie-sanders-primary-obama-2012-social-security.html |website=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |access-date=February 23, 2020 |date=February 19, 2020 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806223705/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/bernie-sanders-primary-obama-2012-social-security.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In November 2013, Sanders suggested that Senator [[Elizabeth Warren]] could be president and that she might earn his backing if she ran. He added that if no progressive candidate ran, he might feel compelled to do so himself.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Joseph |first1=Cameron |title=Bernie Sanders won't rule out presidential bid, touts Elizabeth Warren |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/190544-bernie-sanders-wont-rule-out-presidential-bid-touts |access-date=January 25, 2020 |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |publisher=News Communications |date=November 18, 2013 |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208040749/https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/190544-bernie-sanders-wont-rule-out-presidential-bid-touts |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Eidelson |first1=Josh |title=Bernie Sanders: Why I might run in 2016 |url=https://www.salon.com/2013/11/27/bernie_sanders_why_i_might_run_in_2016/ |access-date=January 25, 2020 |work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |date=November 27, 2013 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108100419/https://www.salon.com/2013/11/27/bernie_sanders_why_i_might_run_in_2016/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2014, Warren said she was not running.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Inskeep |first1=Steve |title='Warning Shot': Sen. Warren On Fighting Banks, And Her Political Future |url=https://www.wbur.org/npr/370817279/sen-warren-warns-that-spending-bill-sets-dangerous-precedent |access-date=January 25, 2020 |work=90.9 WBUR News |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=December 15, 2014 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030203008/https://www.wbur.org/npr/370817279/sen-warren-warns-that-spending-bill-sets-dangerous-precedent |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Sanders announced his intention to seek the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]'s nomination for president on April 30, 2015.<ref>{{Cite news |first=MaryAlice |last=Parks |date=April 30, 2016 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/back-bernie-sanders-campaign-year/story?id=38763976 |title=A Look Back at Bernie Sanders' Campaign One Year Later |access-date=August 30, 2023 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |archive-date=June 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621153710/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/back-bernie-sanders-campaign-year/story?id=38763976 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kane2015">{{cite news |last1=Kane |first1=Paul |last2=Rucker |first2=Philip |date=April 30, 2015 |title=An unlikely contender, Sanders takes on 'billionaire class' in 2016 bid |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-takes-on-billionaire-class-in-launching-2016-bid-against-clinton/2015/04/30/4849fe32-ef3a-11e4-a55f-38924fca94f9_story.html |access-date=April 30, 2015 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124232117/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-takes-on-billionaire-class-in-launching-2016-bid-against-clinton/2015/04/30/4849fe32-ef3a-11e4-a55f-38924fca94f9_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20150429">{{cite news |last=Rappeport |first=Alan |date=April 29, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders Announces He Is Running for President |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign-for-president.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503042822/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign-for-president.html |archive-date=May 3, 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=April 30, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Cogan">{{cite news |last=Cogan |first=Marin |date=April 30, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders Is Officially Running for President – That Doesn't Mean You Can Ask Him About Hillary Clinton |work=Intelligencer, [[New York (magazine)|New York]] |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/04/sanders-is-running-just-dont-say-hillary.html |access-date=July 18, 2015 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621004245/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/04/sanders-is-running-just-dont-say-hillary.html |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, 2016|His campaign]] was officially launched on May 26 in Burlington.<ref name="NYT-20150429"/> In his announcement, Sanders said, "I don't believe that the men and women who defended American democracy fought to create a situation where billionaires own the political process" and made this a central idea throughout his campaign.<ref name=kane2015/><ref name="NYT-20150429"/>

Warren welcomed Sanders's entry into the race, saying, "I'm glad to see him get out there and give his version of what leadership in this country should be", but never endorsed him.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pointdujour |first=Prisca |date=May 2, 2015 |title=Elizabeth Warren praises Bernie Sanders prez bid |work=[[Boston Herald]] |url=https://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us_politics/2015/05/elizabeth_warren_praises_bernie_sanders_prez_bid |access-date=May 3, 2015 |archive-date=August 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808032904/http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us_politics/2015/05/elizabeth_warren_praises_bernie_sanders_prez_bid |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kamisar |first=Ben |date=June 19, 2015 |title=Ready for Warren Endorses Sanders |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/245541-ready-for-warren-endorses-sanders |access-date=February 24, 2016 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406001944/https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/245541-ready-for-warren-endorses-sanders/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Initially considered a long shot, Sanders won 23 [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016|primaries and caucuses]] and around 46% of pledged delegates to [[Hillary Clinton]]'s 54%. His campaign was noted for its supporters' enthusiasm, as well as for rejecting large donations from corporations, the financial industry, and any associated [[Super PAC]]. Some of the [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC) emails leaked to the public in June and July 2016 showed that the committee leadership had favored Clinton over him and had worked to help Clinton win the nomination.<ref name=Here_are_the_latest>{{cite web |first=Aaron |last=Blake |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/24/here-are-the-latest-most-damaging-things-in-the-dncs-leaked-emails/ |title=Here are the latest, most damaging things in the DNC's leaked emails |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=July 24, 2016 |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-date=October 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022085509/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/24/here-are-the-latest-most-damaging-things-in-the-dncs-leaked-emails/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

On July 12, 2016, Sanders formally endorsed Clinton [[Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016|in her unsuccessful general election campaign]] against [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Donald Trump]], while urging his supporters to continue the "political revolution" his campaign had begun.<ref name="Endorsement2016">{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ |title=Bernie Sanders endorses Hillary Clinton |first1=MJ |last1=Lee |first2=Dan |last2=Merica |first3=Jeff |last3=Zeleny |author3-link=Jeff Zeleny |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=May 15, 2018 |date=July 12, 2016 |archive-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806223723/https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders |url-status=live}}</ref> Following his endorsement, Sanders spent weeks campaigning for Clinton,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/bernie-sanderss-hard-fight-for-hillary-clinton |title=Bernie Sanders's Hard Fight for Hillary Clinton |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=November 4, 2016 |last1=Sorkin |first1=Amy Davidson |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830142917/https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/bernie-sanderss-hard-fight-for-hillary-clinton |url-status=live}}</ref> holding 39 rallies in 13 states during the final three months before the 2016 election.<ref>{{cite web |first=Annie |last=Grayer |date=May 30, 2019 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/30/politics/bernie-sanders-umbrage-clinton-2016/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |title=Bernie Sanders takes 'umbrage' when audience member says he didn't support Hillary Clinton in 2016 |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830142917/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/30/politics/bernie-sanders-umbrage-clinton-2016/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Campaign methods===
Unlike the other major candidates, Sanders did not pursue funding through a [[Super PAC]] or from wealthy donors, instead focusing on small-dollar donations.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Bradner |first=Eric |date=April 30, 2015 |title=Sanders doesn't want billionaires' backing |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/30/politics/bernie-sanders-presidential-run-first-interview/ |access-date=May 4, 2015 |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016010327/https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/30/politics/bernie-sanders-presidential-run-first-interview/ |url-status=live}}</ref> His presidential campaign raised $1.5&nbsp;million within 24 hours of his official announcement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Ken |date=May 1, 2015 |title=Sanders raises $1.5M after announcing presidential bid |agency=[[Associated Press]] |publisher=[[Yahoo! News]] |url=https://news.yahoo.com/sanders-raises-1-5m-announcing-presidential-bid-194439911--election.html |access-date=July 19, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722043633/http://news.yahoo.com/sanders-raises-1-5m-announcing-presidential-bid-194439911--election.html |archive-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> At the end of the year, the campaign had raised a total of $73&nbsp;million from more than one million people, making 2.5&nbsp;million donations, with an average donation of $27.16.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 2, 2016 |title=Sanders raises $33M in final quarter, $73M total for 2015 |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/sanders-fundraising-final-quarter-2015-217288 |access-date=January 2, 2016 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108143035/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/sanders-fundraising-final-quarter-2015-217288 |url-status=live}}</ref> The campaign reached 3.25&nbsp;million donations by the end of January 2016, raising $20&nbsp;million in that month alone.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-fundraising_n_56ae4f7ee4b0010e80ea7bdb |title=Bernie Sanders' Small Donor Fundraising Continues To Set Records |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=January 31, 2015 |first=Paul |last=Blumenthal |access-date=December 18, 2019 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621004246/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-fundraising_n_56ae4f7ee4b0010e80ea7bdb |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders used social media to help his campaign gain momentum,<ref>{{cite news |last=Corasaniti |first=Nick |date=May 18, 2015 |title=Seeking the Presidency, Bernie Sanders Becomes Facebook Royalty Through Quirky Sharing |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/us/politics/bernie-sanders-wants-to-be-president-but-hes-already-facebook-royalty.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518173126/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/us/politics/bernie-sanders-wants-to-be-president-but-hes-already-facebook-royalty.html |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=May 21, 2015}}</ref> posting content to online platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and answering questions on [[Reddit]]. He gained a large grassroots organizational following online. A July 29, 2015, meetup organized online brought 100,000 supporters to more than 3,500 simultaneous events nationwide.<ref>{{cite news |first=Lisa |last=Lerer |date=July 30, 2015 |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-draws-more-than-100000-2015-7 |title=More than 100,000 people participated in a mega-grassroots Bernie Sanders event |work=[[Business Insider]] |access-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807080551/https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-draws-more-than-100000-2015-7 |url-status=live}}</ref>

To his surprise, Sanders's June 2015 campaign events drew overflow crowds across the country.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |first=Sofia |last=Tesfaye |date=June 16, 2015 |url=https://www.salon.com/2015/06/16/america_is_feeling_the_bern_bernie_sanders_draws_overflow_crowds_and_surges_in_the_polls/ |title=America is feeling the Bern: Bernie Sanders draws overflow crowds{{snd}}and surges in the polls |work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |access-date=June 16, 2015 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108185103/https://www.salon.com/2015/06/16/america_is_feeling_the_bern_bernie_sanders_draws_overflow_crowds_and_surges_in_the_polls/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Wagner |date=June 15, 2015 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/06/15/meet-the-people-coming-to-see-bernie-sanders-in-iowa/ |title=Meet the people coming to see Bernie Sanders in Iowa |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=June 16, 2015 |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310204515/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/06/15/meet-the-people-coming-to-see-bernie-sanders-in-iowa/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Keith">{{cite news |first=Tamara |last=Keith |date=June 15, 2015 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/15/414689799/bernie-sanders-stunned-by-large-crowds-showing-up-for-him |title=Bernie Sanders 'Stunned' By Large Crowds Showing Up For Him |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=June 16, 2015 |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117041259/https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/15/414689799/bernie-sanders-stunned-by-large-crowds-showing-up-for-him |url-status=live}}</ref> When Clinton and Sanders made public appearances within days of each other in [[Des Moines, Iowa]], he drew larger crowds, even though he had already made many stops around the state and Clinton's visit was her first in 2015.<ref name=GuardianSandersVsClinton>{{cite web |last=Jacobs |first=Ben |date=June 25, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders closes on Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire Democrats poll |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/25/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-new-hampshire-democrats-poll |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=July 2, 2015 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108121528/http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/25/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-new-hampshire-democrats-poll |url-status=live}}</ref> On July 1, 2015, his campaign stop in [[Madison, Wisconsin]], drew the largest crowd of any 2016 presidential candidate to that date, with an estimated turnout of 10,000.<ref name="MSNBCMadisonBiggestCrowd">{{cite web |last=Seitz-Wald |first=Alex |date=July 1, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders draws biggest crowd of any 2016 candidate yet |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bernie-sanders-draws-biggest-crowd-any-2016-candidate-yet |access-date=July 2, 2015 |archive-date=July 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702070510/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bernie-sanders-draws-biggest-crowd-any-2016-candidate-yet |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="HuffPo10K">{{cite web |last=Reilly |first=Mollie |date=July 1, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders Draws His Biggest Crowd Yet In Progressive Stronghold |website=[[HuffPost]] |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-madison_n_7709966 |access-date=July 2, 2015 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807080552/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-madison_n_7709966 |url-status=live}}</ref> Over the following weeks, he drew even larger crowds: 11,000 in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]];<ref name="Washington Post AZ crowd">{{cite news |last=Wagner |first=John |date=July 19, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders draws his biggest crowd yet&nbsp;– in Arizona of all places |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/07/19/bernie-sanders-draws-his-biggest-crowd-yet-in-arizona-of-all-places/ |access-date=July 21, 2015 |archive-date=July 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722231101/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/07/19/bernie-sanders-draws-his-biggest-crowd-yet-in-arizona-of-all-places/ |url-status=live}}</ref> 15,000 in [[Seattle]];<ref>{{cite web |last=Connelly |first=Joel |date=August 8, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders draws 15,000 people at UW, state's biggest political crowd since 2010 Obama visit |website=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |url=https://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2015/08/08/bernie-sanders-draws-15000-people-at-uw-states-biggest-political-crowd-since-2010-obama-visit/ |access-date=August 9, 2015 |archive-date=August 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809153712/http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2015/08/08/bernie-sanders-draws-15000-people-at-uw-states-biggest-political-crowd-since-2010-obama-visit/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> and 28,000 in [[Portland, Oregon]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Chris |last=Cillizza |date=August 10, 2015 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/08/10/this-bernie-sanders-crowd-shot-should-make-hillary-clinton-a-little-jittery/ |title=This Bernie Sanders crowd shot should make Hillary Clinton a little jittery |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=August 10, 2015 |archive-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310205728/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/08/10/this-bernie-sanders-crowd-shot-should-make-hillary-clinton-a-little-jittery/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Presidential debates===
{{main|2016 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums}}

The [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC) announced in May 2015 that there would be six debates. Critics alleged that the small number of debates and the schedule, with half of the debates on Saturday or Sunday nights, were part of the DNC's deliberate attempt to protect Clinton, who was perceived as the front-runner.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Politics-Voices/2015/1222/How-Saturday-debates-protect-Hillary-Clinton |title=How Saturday debates protect Hillary Clinton |first=Doug |last=Mataconis |date=December 22, 2015 |access-date=December 23, 2015 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025004105/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Politics-Voices/2015/1222/How-Saturday-debates-protect-Hillary-Clinton |url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2016, both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns agreed in principle to holding four more debates for a total of ten.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sargent |first=Greg |title=It's on: Looks like we're getting four more Democratic debates |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/02/03/its-on-looks-like-were-getting-four-more-democratic-debates/ |date=February 3, 2016 |access-date=March 30, 2016 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108110216/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/02/03/its-on-looks-like-were-getting-four-more-democratic-debates/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Clinton dropped out of the tenth debate, scheduled to take place just before the [[2016 California Democratic primary|California primary]], citing a need to devote her time to making direct contact with California voters and preparing for the general election.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/712e888ed1b442dfbb44e29ba8ec2561 |first=Hope |last=Yen |date=June 7, 2016 |title=Delegate math: Clinton wins, and how AP counts delegates |work=[[Associated Press News]] |access-date=June 4, 2018 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807080553/https://apnews.com/712e888ed1b442dfbb44e29ba8ec2561 |url-status=live}}</ref> Sanders expressed disappointment that Clinton canceled the debate before what he believed would be "the largest and most important primary in the presidential nominating process."<ref name=":12">{{cite web |title=Clinton declines to debate Sanders in California |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/23/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-fox-debate-california/ |last1=Merica |first1=Dan |last2=Stelter |first2=Brian |date=May 24, 2016 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=November 16, 2016 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726211226/https://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/23/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-fox-debate-california/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Polls and news coverage===
{{see also|Media coverage of Bernie Sanders}}

Some Sanders supporters raised concerns that publications such as ''[[The New York Times]]'' minimized coverage of the Sanders campaign in favor of other candidates, especially Trump and Clinton. The ''Times''{{'}} [[ombudsman]] reviewed her paper's coverage of the Sanders campaign and found that {{as of|2015|September|lc=y}} the ''Times'' "hasn't always taken it very seriously. The tone of some stories is regrettably dismissive, even mocking at times. Some of that is focused on the candidate's age, appearance and style, rather than what he has to say." She also found that the ''Times''{{'s}} coverage of Sanders's campaign was much scanter than its coverage of Trump's, though Trump's was also initially considered a long shot at that time, with 63 articles covering the Trump campaign and 14 covering Sanders's.<ref name="Sullivan2015">{{cite web |url=https://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/09/has-the-times-dismissed-bernie-sanders/ |title=Public Editor's Journal: Has The Times Dismissed Bernie Sanders? |last=Sullivan |first=Margaret |date=September 9, 2015 |website=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923132816/http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/09/has-the-times-dismissed-bernie-sanders/ |archive-date=September 23, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Debenedetti2015">{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/qpoll-iowa-213462 |title=Bernie Sanders overtakes Hillary Clinton in Iowa |last1=Debenedetti |first1=Gabriel |last2=Gass |first2=Nick |date=September 10, 2015 |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=September 11, 2015 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807080419/https://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/qpoll-iowa-213462 |url-status=live}}</ref> A December 2015 report found that the three major networks—[[CBS]], [[NBC]], and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]—had spent 234 minutes reporting on Trump and 10 minutes on Sanders, despite their similar polling results. The report noted that ''[[ABC World News Tonight]]'' had spent 81 minutes on Trump and less than one minute on Sanders during 2015.<ref name="Democracy Now">{{cite web |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2015/12/15/headlines/report_top_news_shows_give_trump_234_minutes_sanders_10_minutes |title=Report: Top News Shows Give Trump 234 Minutes, Sanders 10 Minutes |date=December 15, 2015 |work=[[Democracy Now!]] |at=6:06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151216021357/http://www.democracynow.org/2015/12/15/headlines/report_top_news_shows_give_trump_234_minutes_sanders_10_minutes |archive-date=December 16, 2015 |access-date=December 15, 2015}}</ref>

A study of media coverage in the 2016 election concluded that while Sanders received less coverage than his rival Hillary Clinton, the amount of coverage of Sanders during the election was largely consistent with his polling performance, except during 2015 when Sanders received coverage that far exceeded his standing in the polls.<ref name=":03">{{cite book |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691174198/identity-crisis |title=Identity Crisis |author1-link=John M. Sides |author3-link=Lynn Vavreck |first1=John |last1=Sides |first2=Michael |last2=Tesler |first3=Lynn |last3=Vavreck |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-691-17419-8 |pages=8, 99, 104–107 |quote=Sanders's media coverage and polling numbers were strongly correlated ... At this point in time [2015], Sanders's share of news coverage far exceeded his share in national polls. |access-date=December 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114214823/https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691174198/identity-crisis |archive-date=November 14, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Studies concluded that the tone of media coverage of Sanders was more favorable than that of any other candidate, whereas his main opponent in the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton, received the most negative coverage of any candidate.<ref name="Patterson12">{{cite web |first=Thomas E. |last=Patterson |title=Pre-Primary News Coverage of the 2016 Presidential Race: Trump's Rise, Sanders' Emergence, Clinton's Struggle |date=June 13, 2016 |url=https://shorensteincenter.org/pre-primary-news-coverage-2016-trump-clinton-sanders/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127095707/https://shorensteincenter.org/pre-primary-news-coverage-2016-trump-clinton-sanders/ |access-date=December 1, 2019 |archive-date=November 27, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":03" /> All 2016 candidates received vastly less media coverage than Donald Trump, and the Democratic primary received substantially less coverage than the Republican primary.<ref name=":03" /><ref name="Patterson12" /><ref name=":122">{{Cite book |last=Bitecofer |first=Rachel |year=2018 |title=The Unprecedented 2016 Presidential Election |publisher=Palgrave |pages=36–38, 48 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-61976-7 |isbn=978-3-319-61975-0}}</ref>

[[Amy Goodman]] of ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' noted that on March 15, [[Super Tuesday]] III, the speeches of Trump, Clinton, [[Marco Rubio]], and [[Ted Cruz]] were broadcast in full. Sanders was in Phoenix, Arizona, on that date, speaking to a rally larger than any of the others, yet his speech was not mentioned, let alone broadcast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2016/11/29/bernie_sanders_i_was_stunned_by |title=Bernie Sanders: "I Was Stunned" by Corporate Media Blackout During Democratic Primary |last=Goodman |first=Amy |date=November 29, 2016 |work=[[Democracy Now]] |access-date=December 18, 2019 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108162423/https://www.democracynow.org/2016/11/29/bernie_sanders_i_was_stunned_by |url-status=live}}</ref> However, political scientist [[Rachel Bitecofer]] wrote in her 2018 book about the 2016 election that the Democratic primary was effectively over in terms of delegate count by mid-March 2016, but that the media promoted the narrative that the contest between Sanders and Clinton was "heating up" at that time.<ref name=":122" />

An NBC/''Wall Street Journal'' poll conducted in May 2016 found Clinton and Trump (by then the presumptive Republican nominee) in a "dead heat", but the same poll found that if Sanders were the Democratic nominee, 53% of voters would support him to 39% for Trump.<ref name="NBC News1">{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/clinton-s-lead-over-trump-shrinks-3-points-new-nbc-n577726 |title=Meet the Press |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=May 23, 2016 |last=Murray |first=Mark |archive-date=December 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211011247/https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/clinton-s-lead-over-trump-shrinks-3-points-new-nbc-n577726 |url-status=live}}</ref> Clinton and Trump were the least popular likely candidates ever polled, while Sanders received a 43% positive, 36% negative rating.<ref name="NBC News2">{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/first-read-clinton-s-challenge-winning-over-sanders-voters-n578591 |title=First Read: Clinton's Challenge Is Winning Over Sanders Voters |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=May 23, 2016 |last3=Dann |first3=Carrie |author1-link=Chuck Todd |last1=Todd |first1=Chuck |last2=Murray |first2=Mark |archive-date=December 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211011243/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/first-read-clinton-s-challenge-winning-over-sanders-voters-n578591 |url-status=live}}</ref> Polls showed that Democratic voters older than 50 preferred Clinton by a large margin but that those under 50 overwhelmingly favored Sanders.<ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-sanders-age-20160419-story.html |title=Why young voters are flocking to Sanders and older ones to Clinton |date=April 19, 2016 |access-date=September 6, 2016 |last=Decker |first=Cathleen |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |archive-date=November 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121025142/https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-sanders-age-20160419-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> A 2017 analysis in ''Newsweek'' found that 12% of those who voted for Sanders in the Democratic primary voted for Trump in the general election,<ref name="Miere">{{cite news |url=https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-trump-2016-election-654320 |title=Bernie Sanders Voters Helped Trump and Here's Proof |last=Le Miere |first=Jason |date=August 23, 2017 |website=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=May 25, 2018 |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130013358/https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-trump-2016-election-654320 |url-status=live}}</ref> a lower proportion than that of Clinton supporters in [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]] who voted for [[John McCain]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Newport |first1=Frank |title=If McCain vs. Obama, 28% of Clinton Backers Go for McCain |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/105691/mccain-vs-obama-28-clinton-backers-mccain.aspx |website=Gallup |date=March 26, 2008 |access-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807100455/https://news.gallup.com/poll/105691/McCain-vs-Obama-28-Clinton-Backers-McCain.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Ververs |first1=Vaughn |title=Who Were Those Clinton-McCain Crossover Voters? |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-were-those-clinton-mccain-crossover-voters/ |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=November 12, 2008 |access-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807080419/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-were-those-clinton-mccain-crossover-voters/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===DNC email leak===
{{Main|2016 Democratic National Committee email leak|Podesta emails}}

In July 2016, a leak of the Democratic National Committee's emails appeared to show DNC officials favoring Clinton over Sanders. Staff repeatedly discussed making his irreligious tendencies a potential campaign issue in southern states and questioned his party loyalty. DNC chair [[Debbie Wasserman Schultz]] called his campaign manager "an ''ass''" and "a damn liar".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/us/politics/dnc-emails-sanders-clinton.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160724050536/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/us/politics/dnc-emails-sanders-clinton.html |archive-date=July 24, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Released Emails Suggest the D.N.C. Derided the Sanders Campaign |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 22, 2016 |first1=Michael D. |last1=Shear |first2=Matthew |last2=Rosenberg |access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref> Speaking with [[Jake Tapper]] on [[CNN]], Sanders responded to the leak, saying, "it is an outrage and sad that you would have people in important positions in the DNC trying to undermine my campaign. It goes without saying: the function of the DNC is to represent all of the candidates—to be fair and even-minded. But again, we discussed this many, many months ago, on this show, so what is revealed now is not a shock to me."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/22/politics/dnc-wikileaks-emails/index.html |first1=Jeff |last1=Zeleny |first2=MJ |last2=Lee |first3=Eric |last3=Bradner |title=Emails released by Wikileaks raise questions of DNC's impartiality |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=July 22, 2016 |access-date=February 9, 2020 |archive-date=October 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022152346/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/22/politics/dnc-wikileaks-emails/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Endorsement of Hillary Clinton===
{{main|Results of the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2016 United States presidential election}}

[[File:Bernie Sanders Nashua Oct 2016 - 2.jpg|thumb|left|Sanders campaigning for Hillary Clinton at [[Nashua Community College]] in October 2016]]

After the final primary election, Clinton became the presumptive Democratic nominee.<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617044638/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign.html |archive-date=June 17, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Bernie Sanders, Still Running, Pledges to 'Make Certain' Donald Trump Is Defeated |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 16, 2016 |access-date=June 18, 2016 |author=Alcindor, Yamiche}}</ref> On July 12, Sanders formally [[List of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign political endorsements, 2016|endorsed]] Clinton.<ref name="Endorsement2016"/> He said he would continue to work with the Democratic National Convention organizers to implement progressive positions. Sanders refused to formally concede before the convention.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alcindor |first=Yamiche |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160612224707/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign.html |archive-date=June 12, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Bernie Sanders Refuses to Concede Nomination to Hillary Clinton |date=June 12, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=March 2, 2020 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He spoke at the [[2016 Democratic National Convention]] on July 25, during which he gave Clinton his full support. Some of his supporters attempted to protest Clinton's nomination and booed when Sanders called for party unity. He responded, "Our job is to do two things: to defeat Donald Trump and to elect Hillary Clinton{{nbsp}}... It is easy to boo, but it is harder to look your kids in the face if we are living under a [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump presidency]]."<ref name="CNN">{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/25/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-national-convention-speech/ |title=Bernie Sanders: 'I am proud to stand with her' |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=July 26, 2016 |access-date=July 26, 2016 |author=Collinson, Stephen |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111184032/https://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/25/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-national-convention-speech/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

On November 8, in the general election, Sanders received almost 6% of the vote in [[2016 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]], even though he was no longer a candidate. This was the highest share of a statewide presidential vote for a [[Write-in candidate|write-in]] [[Draft (politics)|draft campaign]] in American history.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/190417-ralph-nader-got-the-most-write-in-votes-for-president-ever-but-election-write-ins-have-a-long |title=Ralph Nader Got The Most Write-In Votes For President Ever, But Election Write-Ins Have A Long History |last=Warner |first=Claire |date=October 19, 2016 |access-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-date=December 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203123640/https://www.bustle.com/articles/190417-ralph-nader-got-the-most-write-in-votes-for-president-ever-but-election-write-ins-have-a-long |url-status=live}}</ref> He also received more votes in Vermont than [[Gary Johnson]], the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]] candidate, and [[Jill Stein]], the [[Green Party of the United States|Green]] candidate, combined.<ref name=":2">{{cite web |url=https://vtelectionresults.sec.state.vt.us/Index.html#/home |title=Vermont Election Night Results |website=vtelectionresults.sec.state.vt.us |access-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-date=May 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528035300/https://vtelectionresults.sec.state.vt.us/Index.html#/home |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was possible to vote for Sanders as a write-in candidate in 12 states,<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |url=https://heavy.com/news/2016/11/how-many-write-in-votes-for-did-bernie-sanders-get-presidential-election-results-california-iowa-new-hampshire-pennsylvania-vermont-total/ |title=How Many Write-In Votes Did Bernie Sanders Get in the Election? |last=Dwilson |first=Stephanie Dube |date=November 16, 2016 |work=Heavy.com |access-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111224127/https://heavy.com/news/2016/11/how-many-write-in-votes-for-did-bernie-sanders-get-presidential-election-results-california-iowa-new-hampshire-pennsylvania-vermont-total/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and exact totals of write-in votes for him were published in three of them: [[2016 United States presidential election in California|California]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2016-general/sov/17-presidential-formatted.pdf |title=Presidential election results in California, 2016 |website=sos.ca.gov |access-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124053428/https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2016-general/sov/17-presidential-formatted.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> [[2016 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sos.nh.gov/2016PresGen.aspx?id=8589963688 |title=President of the United States – 2016 General Election – NHSOS |website=sos.nh.gov |access-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915230044/http://sos.nh.gov/2016PresGen.aspx?id=8589963688 |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[2016 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]].<ref name=":2"/> In those three states, he received 111,850 write-in votes, about 15% of the write-in votes nationwide, and less than 1% of total nationwide vote.<ref name=":3"/>

===Post-election activities===
In November 2016, Sanders's book ''[[Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In]]'' was released; upon its release, it was number three on [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''The New York Times'' Best Seller list]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vtdigger.org/2016/11/14/sanders-book-our-revolution-arriving-with-new-significance/ |title=Sanders' Book 'Our Revolution' Arriving with New Significance |last=O'Connor |first=Kevin |date=November 15, 2016 |website=VTDigger |access-date=November 21, 2016 |quote=the candidate who had been anointed by the entire establishment, was winning, but at the same time was losing state after state by huge margins. |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621052936/https://vtdigger.org/2016/11/14/sanders-book-our-revolution-arriving-with-new-significance/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The audiobook later received a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album.<ref>{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ted |date=November 27, 2017 |title=Bernie Sanders Earns Grammy Nomination |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url=https://variety.com/2017/politics/news/bernie-sanders-grammy-nomination-1202624408/ |access-date=November 27, 2017 |archive-date=September 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908182356/https://variety.com/2017/politics/news/bernie-sanders-grammy-nomination-1202624408/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2017, he began webcasting ''The Bernie Sanders Show'' on [[Facebook live|Facebook live streaming]]. {{as of|2017|April|2|df=US}}, guests had included [[William Barber II|William Barber]], [[Josh Fox]], [[Jane Mayer]], and [[Bill Nye]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/democrats-vs-trump/sanders-show-welcome-bernie-tv-n741571 |title=The Sanders Show: Welcome to 'Bernie TV' |first=Alex |last=Seitz-Wald |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=April 2, 2017 |access-date=April 4, 2017 |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623011502/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/democrats-vs-trump/sanders-show-welcome-bernie-tv-n741571 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.salon.com/2017/04/03/forget-trump-tv-bernie-sanders-has-struck-gold-with-his-new-online-show/ |first=Charlie |last=May |title=Forget Trump TV. Bernie Sanders has struck gold with his new Facebook Live show |date=April 3, 2017 |access-date=April 4, 2017 |archive-date=December 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211024115/https://www.salon.com/2017/04/03/forget-trump-tv-bernie-sanders-has-struck-gold-with-his-new-online-show/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Polls taken in 2017 found him to be the most popular politician in the United States.<ref name="thehill.com">{{cite web |last=Easley |first=Jonathan |date=April 18, 2017 |title=Poll: Bernie Sanders country's most popular active politician |website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/329404-poll-bernie-sanders-countrys-most-popular-active-politician |access-date=April 20, 2017 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012140639/https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/329404-poll-bernie-sanders-countrys-most-popular-active-politician/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Schwartz">{{cite news |last=Schwartz |first=Drew |date=August 24, 2017 |title=Bernie Sanders Is the Most Popular Politician in America, Poll Says |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/bernie-sanders-is-the-most-popular-politician-in-america-poll-says-vgtrn/ |work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |access-date=August 25, 2017 |archive-date=September 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929121250/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xww4ek/bernie-sanders-is-the-most-popular-politician-in-america-poll-says-vgtrn |url-status=live}}</ref>

In February 2018, Special Counsel [[Robert Mueller]]'s investigation into [[Russian interference in the 2016 US elections]] concluded that Russians had communicated false information during the primary campaigns to help Sanders and Stein and harm Clinton.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/17/indictment-russians-also-tried-help-bernie-sanders-jill-stein-presidential-campaigns/348051002/ |title=Indictment: Russians also tried to help Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein presidential campaigns |work=[[USA Today]] |first=Michael |last=Collins |date=February 17, 2018 |access-date=February 24, 2018 |archive-date=November 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128132734/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/17/indictment-russians-also-tried-help-bernie-sanders-jill-stein-presidential-campaigns/348051002/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Sanders rejected the investigation's conclusion, saying that he had seen no evidence that Russians had helped his campaign.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/bernie-sanders-trump-russia-interference-420528 |first=Edward-Isaac |last=Dovere |date=February 21, 2018 |title=Bernie blames Hillary for allowing Russian interference |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=February 24, 2018 |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117143540/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/bernie-sanders-trump-russia-interference-420528 |url-status=live}}</ref> Furthermore, he questioned the Clinton campaign's lack of action to prevent Russian interference.<ref name=":6"/> He later said that his campaign had taken action to prevent Russian meddling in the election and that a campaign staffer had alerted the Clinton campaign.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/24/bernie-sanders-russian-trolls-false-story-423413 |title=Bernie Sanders promoted false story on reporting Russian trolls |work=[[Politico]] |date=February 24, 2018 |first=Edward-Isaac |last=Dovere |access-date=February 24, 2018 |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125023958/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/24/bernie-sanders-russian-trolls-false-story-423413 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Politico]]'' noted that a Sanders campaign volunteer contacted a [[political action committee]] (PAC) that supported the Clinton campaign to report suspicious activities but that the Sanders campaign did not contact the Clinton campaign as such.<ref name=":7"/>

In November 2018, the [[Sanders Institute]] and [[Yanis Varoufakis]], co-founder of [[Democracy in Europe Movement 2025|DiEM25]], launched [[Progressive International]], an international organization uniting [[Progressivism|progressive]] activists and organizations "to mobilize people around the world to transform the global order and the institutions that shape it."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/bernie-sanders-turns-focus-to-the-white-house-and-the-world/2018/12/01/dc01f7ae-f4f1-11e8-80d0-f7e1948d55f4_story.html |title=Bernie Sanders turns focus to the White House and the world |last=Wegel |first=David |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=December 1, 2018 |access-date=December 2, 2018 |archive-date=December 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228185634/https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/bernie-sanders-turns-focus-to-the-white-house-and-the-world/2018/12/01/dc01f7ae-f4f1-11e8-80d0-f7e1948d55f4_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.progressive-international.org/open-call/ |url-status=dead |title=An Open Call to All Progressive Forces |publisher=Progressive International |date=November 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202003335/https://www.progressive-international.org/open-call/ |access-date=December 2, 2018 |archive-date=December 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/ng-interactive/2018/sep/13/bernie-sanders-international-progressive-front |date=September 13, 2018 |title=A new authoritarian axis demands an international progressive front |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=October 27, 2018 |archive-date=October 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024043743/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/ng-interactive/2018/sep/13/bernie-sanders-international-progressive-front |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Influence on the Democratic Party===
Analysts have suggested that Sanders's campaign shifted both the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party [[Left-wing politics|politically leftward]]. A new [[political action committee|political organization]], [[Brand New Congress]], was formed in April 2016 by former campaign staffers. It works to elect congressional representatives with platforms in line with Sanders.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lachman |first=Samantha |title=Former Bernie Sanders Staffers Seek To Elect A 'Brand New Congress' |newspaper=[[HuffPost]] |date=April 27, 2016 |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-congress_n_5720e608e4b0b49df6a9c933 |access-date=November 20, 2016 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807080553/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-congress_n_5720e608e4b0b49df6a9c933 |url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2016, he formed [[Our Revolution]], a [[501(c)(4)|political organization]] dedicated to educating voters about issues, getting people involved in the political process, and electing progressive candidates for local, state, and national office.<ref name="Guadiano">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/07/15/bernie-sanders-progressive-message/87073052/ |title=Bernie Sanders will launch organizations to spread progressive message |last=Guadiano |first=Nicole |date=July 15, 2016 |work=[[USA Today]] |access-date=July 27, 2016 |archive-date=July 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728020846/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/07/15/bernie-sanders-progressive-message/87073052/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Washington Times">{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/18/bernie-sanders-running-our-revolution/ |title=Bernie Sanders: Still percolating |website=[[The Washington Times]] |date=August 18, 2016 |access-date=August 19, 2016 |author=Harper, Jennifer |quote=Election days come and go, but the struggle for economic, social, racial and environmental justice must continue. We have the guts and the energy to take on the special interests, win critical battles on the most important issues of our time, and redefine what's possible in this country. Now it's time for all of us to get to work. |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807080419/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/18/bernie-sanders-running-our-revolution/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Speaking on the [[PBS Newshour]] about the upcoming 2018 elections and discussing the main principles of the two major parties, [[Susan Page]] described the Republican Party as "Trump's party" and the Democratic Party as "Bernie Sanders's party", saying that "Sanders and his more progressive stance has really taken hold."<ref>{{cite AV media |time=14:25 |title=PBS NewsHour full episode May 28, 2018 |url=https://www.pbs.org/video/pbs-newshour-full-episode-may-28-2018-1527540089/ |website=[[PBS NewsHour]] |access-date=June 3, 2018 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030125341/https://www.pbs.org/video/pbs-newshour-full-episode-may-28-2018-1527540089/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Noting the increasing acceptance of his national single-payer health-care program, his $15-an-hour minimum wage stance, free college tuition, and many of the other campaign platform issues he introduced,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48640268 |access-date=August 23, 2019 |title=Bernie Sanders: What's different this time around? |first=Anthony |last=Zurcher |date=June 20, 2019 |work=[[BBC News]] |location=London |archive-date=June 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601153531/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48640268 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/bernie-sanders-just-changed-the-democratic-party |access-date=August 23, 2019 |title=Bernie Sanders Just Changed the Democratic Party |first=John |last=Cassidy |date=February 2, 2016 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |archive-date=May 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509084430/https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/bernie-sanders-just-changed-the-democratic-party |url-status=live}}</ref> an April 2018 opinion article in ''[[The Week]]'' suggested, "Quietly but steadily, the Democratic Party is admitting that Sanders was right."<ref name="Spross">{{cite news |url=https://theweek.com/articles/769073/bernie-sanders-conquered-democratic-party |access-date=August 23, 2019 |title=Bernie Sanders has Conquered the Democratic Party |first=Jeff |last=Spross |date=April 24, 2018 |work=[[The Week]] |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109031226/https://theweek.com/articles/769073/bernie-sanders-conquered-democratic-party |url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2016, a ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' article called the Democratic platform draft "a monument to his campaign", noting not only his call for a $15 minimum wage but other campaign issues, such as Social Security expansion, a [[carbon tax]], Wall Street reform, opposition to the death penalty, and a "reasoned pathway for future legalization" of marijuana.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bouie |first1=Jamelle |title=What Bernie Sanders Has Won |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/07/the-democratic-platform-is-a-monument-to-bernie-sanders-campaign.html |date=July 11, 2016 |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |access-date=June 3, 2018 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030055828/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/07/the-democratic-platform-is-a-monument-to-bernie-sanders-campaign.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders's presidential campaigns led to a resurgence of interest in [[social democracy]] and [[democratic socialism]] [[Socialism among millennials|among millennials]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=McGreal |first=Chris |title='The S-word': how young Americans fell in love with socialism |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=September 2, 2017 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/02/socialism-young-americans-bernie-sanders |access-date=June 19, 2021 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506070625/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/02/socialism-young-americans-bernie-sanders |url-status=live}}</ref>

==2020 presidential campaign==
{{main|Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign|2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries}}

[[File:Draft Bernie for a People's Party.jpg|thumb|"Draft Bernie" sign at the [[2017 Women's March]] in Washington, D.C.]]
On February 19, 2019, Sanders announced that he would seek the Democratic Party's 2020 nomination for president.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vpr.org/post/hes-2020-bernie-sanders-running-president-again |title=He's In For 2020: Bernie Sanders Is Running For President Again |last=Kinzel |date=February 19, 2019 |first=Bob |website=vpr.org |access-date=February 19, 2019 |archive-date=April 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427071814/https://www.vpr.org/post/hes-2020-bernie-sanders-running-president-again |url-status=live}}</ref> He had declined the [[Vermont Democratic Party]] nomination for U.S. Senate in 2006, 2012, and 2018, which caused an unsuccessful legal challenge to his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. Along with his 2019 campaign announcement, he said he would abide by a new Democratic Party rule for presidential candidates and that he would affirm his membership in that party.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wmur.com/article/independent-bernie-sanders-to-put-in-writing-that-hes-a-bona-fide-democrat/26474045 |title=Independent Bernie Sanders to put in writing that he's a 'bona fide' Democrat |first=John |last=DiStaso |date=February 22, 2019 |publisher=WMUR |access-date=March 2, 2019 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108180610/https://www.wmur.com/article/independent-bernie-sanders-to-put-in-writing-that-hes-a-bona-fide-democrat/26474045 |url-status=live}}</ref> On March 5, 2019, he signed a formal statement, known as a "loyalty pledge", that he is a member of the Democratic Party and will serve as a Democrat if elected. News reports noted that the day before, he had signed paperwork to run as an independent for reelection to his Senate seat in 2024.<ref name=":18">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/bernie-sanders-signs-dnc-loyalty-pledge-i-am-member-democratic-n979696 |title=Bernie Sanders signs DNC loyalty pledge: 'I am a member of the Democratic Party' |last=Seitz-Wald |first=Alex |date=March 5, 2019 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=March 7, 2019 |archive-date=December 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207175811/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/bernie-sanders-signs-dnc-loyalty-pledge-i-am-member-democratic-n979696 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders's campaign manager was [[Faiz Shakir]]. The campaign's national co-chairs were [[Ben & Jerry's]] co-founder [[Ben Cohen (businessman)|Ben Cohen]], Representative [[Ro Khanna]], [[Our Revolution]] president [[Nina Turner]], and [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]] mayor [[Carmen Yulín Cruz]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Bernie Sanders Hires Top Progressive Advocate, Faiz Shakir, as Campaign Manager |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-hires-top-civil-liberties-advocate-faiz-shakir-as-campaign-manager |first1=Gideon |last1=Resnick |first2=Spencer |last2=Ackerman |first3=Sam |last3=Stein |date=February 19, 2019 |website=[[The Daily Beast]] |access-date=October 16, 2019 |archive-date=February 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219231102/https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-hires-top-civil-liberties-advocate-faiz-shakir-as-campaign-manager |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gamboa |first1=Suzanne |title=San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz to co-chair Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign |date=February 22, 2019 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/san-juan-mayor-carmen-yul-n-cruz-co-chair-bernie-n974276 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=October 16, 2019 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807085629/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/san-juan-mayor-carmen-yul-n-cruz-co-chair-bernie-n974276 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Campaign methods===
Given the high national profile that Sanders maintained since his 2016 campaign, [[NPR]] described him as "no longer an underdog" when he announced his 2020 campaign.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 19, 2019 |first1=Scott |last1=Detrow |first2=Jessica |last2=Taylor |title=Bernie Sanders Enters 2020 Presidential Campaign, No Longer An Underdog |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/02/19/676923000/bernie-sanders-enters-2020-presidential-campaign-no-longer-an-underdog |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=February 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220002744/https://www.npr.org/2019/02/19/676923000/bernie-sanders-enters-2020-presidential-campaign-no-longer-an-underdog?t=1550576496363 |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Using the large email list it built during the 2016 campaign, the 2020 campaign recruited more than one million volunteers within weeks of its launch. It enlisted several former [[NowThis News]] employees to produce professional videos for wide social media distribution, live-streamed various forums to its millions of social media followers, and launched a [[podcast]] and smartphone app for grassroots organizing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/6/25/18753934/bernie-sanders-video-2020-facebook-twitter-debate |title=Bernie Sanders is winning the internet. Will it win him the White House? |last=Stewart |first=Emily |date=July 5, 2019 |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |access-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-date=December 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212041456/https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/6/25/18753934/bernie-sanders-video-2020-facebook-twitter-debate |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Fundraising===
Sanders's 2020 campaign employed many of the same methods as its 2016 counterpart, eschewing a [[Super PAC]] and relying predominantly on small-dollar contributions. According to [[Federal Election Commission]] filings, the Sanders campaign had raised the most money in the 2020 Democratic field as of June 2019, including money left over from his 2018 Senate and 2016 presidential races.<ref>{{cite web |title=2020 Presidential Race |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race |website=Open Secrets |access-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-date=May 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514133758/https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Summary data for Bernie Sanders |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/candidate?id=N00000528 |website=Open Secrets |access-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-date=May 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513164107/https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race/candidate?id=N00000528 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Money |first1=Beatrice |last1=Jin |first2=Maggie |last2=Severns |date=October 15, 2019 |url=https://www.politico.com/2020-election/president/democratic-primary/candidates/fundraising-and-campaign-finance-tracker/ |website=Politico |access-date=December 18, 2019 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012135135/https://www.politico.com/2020-election/president/democratic-primary/candidates/fundraising-and-campaign-finance-tracker/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2019, the Sanders campaign became the fastest in US history to reach one million donors.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bernie Sanders has 1 million donors |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-has-one-million-donors/ |first=Cara |last=Korte |date=September 19, 2019 |publisher=[[CBS News]] |access-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807085321/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-has-one-million-donors/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On October 1, 2019, the campaign announced it had raised $25.3&nbsp;million in the year's third quarter, with an average donation of $18. It was the largest quarterly sum raised by any Democratic candidate.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Gregory |last1=Krieg |first2=Ryan |last2=Nobles |date=October 1, 2019 |title=Bernie Sanders scores massive $25.3 million third quarter fundraising haul |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bernie-sanders-scores-massive-253-third-quarter-fundraising-haul/ar-AAI6H9Z |website=[[CNN]] on MSN |access-date=October 2, 2019 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726205519/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bernie-sanders-scores-massive-253-third-quarter-fundraising-haul/ar-AAI6H9Z |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first1=Michelle Ye Hee |last1=Lee |first2=Sean |last2=Sullivan |first3=Amy B. |last3=Wang |date=October 2, 2019 |title=Sanders raised $25.3 million in third quarter, campaign says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sen-bernie-sanders-raised-253-million-in-third-quarter-campaign-says/2019/10/01/5d8a0e00-e3c7-11e9-a331-2df12d56a80b_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=October 2, 2019 |archive-date=May 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515183122/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sen-bernie-sanders-raised-253-million-in-third-quarter-campaign-says/2019/10/01/5d8a0e00-e3c7-11e9-a331-2df12d56a80b_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The campaign raised $34.5&nbsp;million during the fourth quarter of 2019.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/sanders-brings-over-35m-4th-quarter-fundraising-yang-s-haul-n1109406 |title=Trump brings in $46M in 4th quarter, as Sanders, Yang smash their previous records |last=Smith |first=Allan |date=January 2, 2020 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=January 2, 2020 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807085321/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/sanders-brings-over-35m-4th-quarter-fundraising-yang-s-haul-n1109406 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Polls and news coverage===
[[File:Bernie Sanders - Rally at San Jose, CA - 2.jpg|thumb|right|Sanders campaigning for president in [[San Jose, California]], March 2020]]
{{see also|Media coverage of Bernie Sanders}}
Sanders steadily polled between 15% and 20% on most national surveys between May and September 2019, according to the [[RealClearPolitics]] average. This placed him in a decisive second-place behind [[Joe Biden]] until [[Elizabeth Warren]] and [[Kamala Harris]] caught up in July.<ref name=rcp2020>{{cite web |title=2020 Democratic Presidential Nomination |url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/2020_democratic_presidential_nomination-6730.html |website=[[RealClearPolitics]] |access-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-date=September 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927083236/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/2020_democratic_presidential_nomination-6730.html |url-status=live}}</ref> From mid-February 2020 to the start of March, Sanders polled in first place in the Democratic primary ahead of Joe Biden<ref>{{cite web |url=https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-d/ |url-status=dead |title=President: Democratic primary: 2020 Polls |last3=Mehta |first1=Aaron |last1=Bycoffe |first2=Ritchie |last2=King |first3=Dhrumil |display-authors=etal |date=June 28, 2018 |website=[[FiveThirtyEight]] |access-date=March 15, 2020 |archive-date=February 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224230027/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-d/}}</ref><ref name=rcp2020/> and was described by the press as the party's presidential front-runner.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news |last1=Burns |first1=Alexander |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/us/politics/democratic-debate-nevada-recap.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220043126/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/us/politics/democratic-debate-nevada-recap.html |archive-date=February 20, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Warren Leads an Onslaught of Attacks, Zeroing In on Bloomberg |date=February 19, 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=February 20, 2020 |last2=Martin |first2=Jonathan |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/bernie-sanders-now-front-runner-moderates-may-be-too-divided-n1135596 |title=Bernie Sanders is now the front-runner. And moderates may be too divided to stop him |last1=Kapur |first1=Sahil |last2=Brewster |first2=Shaquille |date=February 12, 2020 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219185440/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/bernie-sanders-now-front-runner-moderates-may-be-too-divided-n1135596 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/17/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-primary-2020-election/index.html |title=How Bernie Sanders became the Democratic primary's early front-runner |last1=Krieg |first1=Gregory |last2=Nobles |first2=Ryan |date=February 18, 2020 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=February 20, 2020 |last3=Grayer |first3=Annie |archive-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219094242/https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/17/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-primary-2020-election/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/18/bernie-sanders-frontrunner-nationwide-poll-115753 |title=Sanders surges to double-digit lead in new nationwide poll |last=Ward |first=Myah |date=February 18, 2020 |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219141705/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/18/bernie-sanders-frontrunner-nationwide-poll-115753 |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to a [[RealClearPolitics]] analysis, Sanders received the third-most mentions on [[CNN]], [[Fox News]], and [[MSNBC]] between January and August 2019, trailing only [[Joe Biden]] and [[Kamala Harris]]. Biden, however, received twice as many mentions as Sanders and Harris. Mentions of Sanders on ''[[ABC World News Tonight]]'' found him in second place, though also trailing Biden by a large margin. Online mentions "reflect a slightly more balanced picture", with both Sanders and [[Elizabeth Warren]] running "neck-and-neck" with Biden.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/08/22/ranking_the_2020_democratic_candidates_by_media_coverage.html |first=Kalev |last=Leetaru |title=Ranking the 2020 Democratic Candidates by Media Coverage |date=August 22, 2019 |publisher=RealClearPolitics |access-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124083823/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/08/22/ranking_the_2020_democratic_candidates_by_media_coverage.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Forums and other appearances===
{{main|2020 Democratic Party presidential forums}}

On April 6, 2019, Sanders participated in a [[Fox News]] town hall that attracted more than 2.55&nbsp;million viewers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/439169-bernie-sanders-fox-news-town-hall-draws-more-than-255-million |title=Bernie Sanders Fox News town hall draws more than 2.55 million |first=Joe |last=Concha |date=April 16, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416205654/https://thehill.com/homenews/media/439169-bernie-sanders-fox-news-town-hall-draws-more-than-255-million |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sunkara |first=Bhaskar |date=April 16, 2019 |title=How wide is Bernie Sanders's appeal? This cheering Fox News audience is a clue |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2019/apr/16/bernie-sanders-appeal-cheering-fox-news |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=April 18, 2019 |author-link=Bhaskar Sunkara |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417164502/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2019/apr/16/bernie-sanders-appeal-cheering-fox-news |archive-date=April 17, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> His decision to appear on Fox was controversial, given the [[Democratic National Committee]]'s decision not to allow Fox to host any of its debates.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bernie Sanders, at combative Fox News town hall, makes no apologies for making millions |first=Gregg |last=Re |date=April 15, 2019 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bernie-sanders-takes-stage-at-fox-news-town-hall-after-emerging-as-apparent-dem-frontrunner |publisher=[[Fox News]] |access-date=September 21, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=April 3, 2019 |first=Benjamin |last=Fearnow |title=Democrats Ridicule Bernie Sanders Over Fox News Town Hall Plans, Conservatives and Moderates Offer Rare Praise |url=https://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-bernie-sanders-dnc-loyalty-controversy-town-hall-democratic-2020-1385160 |website=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=September 21, 2019}}</ref> His appearance saw an increase of Fox News viewers by 24% overall and 40% in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic, surpassing the ratings of all other Democratic presidential candidate town halls that year. As of September 2019, the town hall had received more than 1.5&nbsp;million views on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web |title=Town hall with Bernie Sanders |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ozAACcc8I |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/p4ozAACcc8I |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live |via=YouTube |date=April 15, 2019 |access-date=September 21, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On August 6, 2019, Sanders appeared on ''[[The Joe Rogan Experience]]'' podcast. Some praised Rogan for "hosting a pragmatic discussion" while others "seemed rather stunned by Sanders's decision to appear on the show at all". After the podcast, Rogan became a top-trending Twitter topic.<ref>{{cite web |last=Prokos |first=Hayley |title=Joe Rogan Praised by Twitter After Bernie Sanders Appears On Podcast to Debate Health Care, Gun Laws and Aliens |date=August 7, 2019 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-praised-twitter-after-bernie-sanders-appears-podcast-debate-health-care-gun-laws-1453096 |website=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=August 10, 2019}}</ref> After interviewing him, Rogan said, "I am not right-wing&nbsp;... I've interviewed right-wing people. I am 100% left-wing&nbsp;... Bernie Sanders made a ton of sense to me and I would 100% vote for him."<ref>{{cite web |title=Joe Rogan Experience #1334 – Fahim Anwar |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1040&v=nV3miitxG08 |via=YouTube |date=August 14, 2019 |access-date=September 21, 2019}}</ref> As of October 2019, the podcast had received more than ten million views on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web |title=Joe Rogan Experience #1330 – Bernie Sanders |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O-iLk1G_ng |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/2O-iLk1G_ng |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live |via=YouTube |date=August 6, 2019 |access-date=August 10, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Presidential debates===
{{see also|2020 Democratic Party presidential debates}}
In December 2018, the [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC) announced the preliminary schedule for 12 official DNC-sanctioned debates, set to begin in June 2019, with six in 2019 and the remaining six during the first four months of 2020. During the July and September debates, commentators described Sanders and [[Elizabeth Warren]] as having a "non-aggression pact", staking out similar progressive positions in contrast to the more conservative candidates.<ref>{{cite news |first=Anthony |last=Zurcher |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49675275 |title=Democratic debate: The winners and losers |date=September 13, 2019 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=September 21, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/heres-how-each-candidate-stood-out-during-the-debate |title=Here's How Each Candidate Stood Out During The Debate |date=September 12, 2019 |first1=John |last1=Light |first2=David |last2=Taintor |work=[[Talking Points Memo]] |access-date=September 21, 2019}}</ref> In the October 15 debate, his first appearance since his heart attack, debate coach Todd Graham gave Sanders's performance an A, his highest rating of all the candidates.<ref>{{cite web |last=Graham |first=Todd |title=Debate coach: A star emerged from the Democratic debate |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/16/opinions/debate-coach-graham-democratic-debate/index.html |date=October 16, 2019 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=October 16, 2019}}</ref>

[[CNN]] hosted the first 2020 debate in January with six candidates remaining. Co-moderator [[Abby Phillip]] questioned Sanders and Warren about an allegation Warren had made that he had privately told her that a woman could not defeat Donald Trump. Phillip asked Sanders, "Senator Sanders, CNN reported yesterday, and Senator Warren confirmed in a statement, that in 2018 you told her that you did not believe that a woman could win the election. Why did you say that?" Ignoring Sanders's strong denial, Phillip asked Warren, "What did you think when Bernie Sanders told you that a woman couldn't become president?" In an interview after the debate, Sanders called it ludicrous to believe that he would doubt a woman's ability to win the presidency and noted that a woman already ''had'' won the national [[United States presidential election#Popular vote|popular vote]], saying, "After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes in 2016."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Derysh |first1=Igor |title=Elizabeth Warren: Bernie Sanders "disagreed" with me that a "woman could win" the presidency |url=https://www.salon.com/2020/01/14/warren-says-sanders-disagreed-that-a-woman-could-win-in-2020-bernie-denies-it/ |website=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |date=January 14, 2020 |access-date=February 19, 2020}}</ref>

===Suspension of campaign===
Sanders announced that he was suspending his campaign on April 8, 2020.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |last=Ember |first=Sydney |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/politics/bernie-sanders-drops-out.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408152739/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/politics/bernie-sanders-drops-out.html |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Bernie Sanders Drops Out of 2020 Democratic Race for President |date=April 8, 2020 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 8, 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/08/politics/bernie-sanders-drops-out/ |title=Bernie Sanders drops out of the 2020 race, clearing Joe Biden's path to the Democratic nomination |last1=Krieg |first1=Gregory |last2=Nobles |first2=Ryan |last3=Grayer |first3=Annie |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=April 8, 2020 |access-date=April 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/08/bernie-sanders-drops-out-of-2020-democratic-presidential-primary.html |title=Bernie Sanders drops out of the presidential race |last=Pramuk |first=Jacob |publisher=[[CNBC]] |date=April 8, 2020 |access-date=April 10, 2020}}</ref> He stated that he would remain on the ballot in the remaining states and continue to accumulate delegates with the goal of influencing the Democratic Party's platform.<ref name=BizInsider2020-04-10>{{Cite news |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/sanders-will-continue-gathering-delegates-to-influence-dnc-platform-2020-4 |title=Bernie Sanders vows to stay on upcoming ballots and continue to gather delegates so he can 'exert significant influence over the party platform' |last=Epstein |first=Kayla |work=[[Business Insider]] |date=April 8, 2020 |access-date=April 10, 2020}}</ref><ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/sanders-drops-out-will-work-with-biden-but-remain-on-ballot-to-influence-policy-81781317998 |title=Sanders drops out, remains on ballot to press issues important to political agenda |first=Andrea |last=Mitchell |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |date=April 8, 2020 |access-date=April 9, 2020}}</ref> On April 14, Sanders endorsed Biden. Biden responded, "I think that your endorsement means a great deal. It means a great deal to me. I think people are going to be surprised that we are apart on some issues but we're awfully close on a whole bunch of others. I'm going to need you—not just to win the campaign, but to govern."<ref>{{cite web |title=Bernie Sanders endorses Joe Biden for president |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/13/politics/bernie-sanders-endorses-joe-biden/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=April 13, 2020 |access-date=June 21, 2020}}</ref>

==Political positions==
<!-- PLEASE KEEP THIS SECTION AS SUCCINCT AS POSSIBLE -->
{{Main|Political positions of Bernie Sanders}}

{{Progressivism US|politicians}}{{Socialism US|politicians}}
A self-described [[Democratic socialism|democratic socialist]],<ref name="Democratic socialist"/> Sanders is a [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] and left-wing [[populist]] who admires [[social democracy|social democratic]] programs in Europe and supports [[workplace democracy]] via [[union democracy]], [[worker cooperative]]s, and [[workers' management]] of [[public enterprise]]s.<ref>*{{cite web |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=May 26, 2013 |title=What Can We Learn From Denmark? |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-can-we-learn-from-de_b_3339736 |access-date=August 19, 2013 |website=[[HuffPost]]}}
*{{cite news |last=Issenberg |first=Sasha |date=January 9, 2010 |title=Sanders a growing force on the far, far left |work=[[Boston Globe]] |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/01/09/sanders_a_growing_force_on_the_far_far_left/ |access-date=August 24, 2013 |quote=You go to Scandinavia, and you will find that people have a much higher standard of living, in terms of education, health care, and decent paying jobs.}}
*{{cite web |last1=Topaz |first1=Jonathan |last2=Schreckinger |first2=Ben |date=July 6, 2015 |title=The socialist surge |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-socialist-surge-119785 |access-date=August 18, 2015 |website=[[Politico]] |quote={{nnbsp}}'I believe that, in the long run, major industries in this state and nation should be publicly owned and controlled by the workers themselves,' he wrote in 1976.}}
*{{cite news |last=Lynch |first=Conor |date=October 8, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders is Ayn Rand's worst nightmare: He's changing how we view socialism{{snd}}and exposing free market parasites |work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |url=https://www.salon.com/2015/10/08/bernie_sanders_is_ayn_rands_worst_nightmare_hes_changing_how_we_view_socialism_and_exposing_free_market_parasites/ |access-date=February 14, 2020}}
*{{cite web |last=McMurry |first=Evan |date=May 3, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders: America Should Look More Like Scandinavia |url=http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bernie-sanders-america-should-look-more-like-scandinavia/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504171720/http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bernie-sanders-america-should-look-more-like-scandinavia/ |archive-date=May 4, 2015 |access-date=June 4, 2015 |website=[[Mediaite]]}}
*{{Cite news |last=Stein |first=Jeff |date=May 28, 2019 |title=Bernie Sanders backs 2 policies to dramatically shift corporate power to U.S. workers |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/05/28/bernie-sanders-backs-policies-dramatically-shift-corporate-power-us-workers/ |access-date=March 9, 2023}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Bruenig |first=Matt |date=May 29, 2019 |title=Bernie Wants Power in Workers' Hands |url=https://jacobin.com/2019/05/bernie-sanders-funds-socialism-shares-cooperatives |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=Jacobin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |title=Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In |date=November 15, 2016 |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |isbn=978-1-250-13292-5 |location=New York}}</ref><ref name="angry about"/> He is a strong critic of contemporary [[neoliberal]] capitalism, which he calls "uber-capitalism", blaming it for such social ills as declining life expectancy and rising [[diseases of despair]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Al-Sheikh |first=Yaseen |date=February 23, 2023 |title=Eight Lessons From Bernie Sanders's New Book |url=https://jacobin.com/2023/02/bernie-sanders-book-capitalism-workers-medicare-for-all |work=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |access-date=February 28, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/unnerving-short-stories-an-irish-romcom-and-a-journey-into-the-past-20230220-p5clvb.html |title=Unnerving short stories, an Irish romcom and a journey into the past |first1=Cameron |last1=Woodhead |first2=Steven |last2=Carroll |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=February 24, 2023 |accessdate=February 28, 2023}}</ref><ref name="angry about">{{cite book |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |author-link=Bernie Sanders |date=2023 |title=It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism |publisher=[[Crown Publishing Group]] |page=9 |isbn=978-0593238714 |title-link=It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism}}</ref> He advocates [[universal healthcare|universal]], [[single-payer healthcare]], paid [[parental leave]], and tuition-free tertiary education.<ref name="Jaffe" /> He supports lowering the cost of drugs by reforming patent laws to allow cheaper generic versions to be sold in the US.<ref>{{cite news |last=Carter |first=Zach |date=May 19, 2012 |title=Bernie Sanders Offers Plan To Cut Prescription Drug Prices |work=[[HuffPost]] |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-prescription-drug-prices_n_1528332 |access-date=August 16, 2014}}</ref> He supported the [[Affordable Care Act]], though he said it did not go far enough.<ref>{{cite web |title=Senator Bernie Sanders Explains Why Obamacare Isn't Enough |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb6XA9XS_ic |via=YouTube |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=June 13, 2023 |date=October 31, 2017 |quote="the affordable care act is not good enough – we have got to do more"}}</ref> In November 2015, he gave a speech at [[Georgetown University]] about his view of democratic socialism, including its place in the policies of presidents [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].<ref name=atlanticsocialism>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/bernie-sanders-makes-his-pitch-for-socialism/416913/ |date=November 20, 2015 |access-date=November 11, 2024 |title=How Bernie Sanders Explains Democratic Socialism |first=Clare |last=Foran |website=[[The Atlantic]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://berniesanders.com/democratic-socialism-in-the-united-states/ |title=Senator Bernie Sanders on Democratic Socialism in the United States |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720220054/https://berniesanders.com/democratic-socialism-in-the-united-states/ |archive-date=July 20, 2017 |website=BernieSanders.com |date=November 19, 2015}}</ref> Defining what "democratic socialism" means to him, Sanders said: "I don't believe government should take over the grocery store down the street or own the means of production, but I do believe that the middle class and the working families who produce the wealth of America deserve a decent standard of living and that their incomes should go up, not down. I do believe in private companies that thrive and invest and grow in America, companies that create jobs here, rather than companies that are shutting down in America and increasing their profits by exploiting low-wage labor abroad.."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weissmann |first=Jordan |date=November 19, 2015 |title=Calling Himself a Socialist Was One of Bernie Sanders' Smartest Moves |url=https://slate.com/business/2015/11/bernie-sanders-defines-democratic-socialism.html |access-date=March 4, 2022 |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref>

Based on his positions and votes throughout his career, many commentators consider his political platform primarily focused on tax-funded social benefits inspired by the [[Nordic model]] and not on [[social ownership]] of the [[means of production]].<ref name="Gram2015a">{{cite news |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/bernie-sanders-has-had-consistent-message-for-4-decades/ |title=Bernie Sanders has had consistent message for 4 decades |date=May 11, 2015 |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151111064629/http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/bernie-sanders-has-had-consistent-message-for-4-decades/ |archive-date=November 11, 2015 |url-status=dead |issn=0745-9696}}</ref><ref name="maddow1">{{cite news |last1=Maddow |first1=Rachel |title=Bernie Sanders' track record distinguished by consistency |url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/sanders-record-distinguished-by-consistency-504479811515 |access-date=October 13, 2015 |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |date=August 13, 2015}}</ref> Some socialists and major socialist organizations have described Sanders as a democratic socialist, [[Market socialism|market socialist]], or [[Reformist socialism|reformist socialist]],<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Gruenberg |first=Mark |date=May 30, 2019 |title=Bernie Sanders: Workers should control the means of production |url=https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/bernie-sanders-workers-should-control-the-means-of-production/ |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=People's World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/history/ |access-date=June 4, 2023 |website=Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Koritz |first=Joshua |date=February 28, 2020 |title=Bernie Sanders: The Socialist Feminist Choice |url=https://www.socialistalternative.org/2020/02/28/bernie-sanders-the-socialist-feminist-choice/ |access-date=June 4, 2023 |website=Socialist Alternative |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Branko |last=Marcetic |title=How Bernie Sanders, an Open Socialist, Won Burlington's Mayoral Election |date=March 3, 2021 |url=https://jacobin.com/2021/03/bernie-sanders-burlington-vermont-mayoral-election-open-socialist/ |access-date=June 4, 2023 |website=jacobin.com |language=en-US}}</ref> while others have called him a reformist social democrat.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/13/real-socialists-think-bernie-s-a-sellout.html |title=Real socialists think Bernie is a sellout |last=Murphy |first=Patricia |date=October 10, 2015 |website=[[The Daily Beast]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014141615/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/13/real-socialists-think-bernie-s-a-sellout.html |access-date=February 3, 2016 |archive-date=October 14, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Smolarek |first=Walter |title=The Bernie Sanders campaign and building the movement for socialism in the US |work=Liberation News |url=https://www.liberationnews.org/the-bernie-sanders-campaign-and-building-the-movement-for-socialism-in-the-us/ |date=February 4, 2020 |access-date=June 4, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hawkins |first=Howie |date=June 25, 2019 |title=Sanders' 'Socialism' is old-fashioned liberalism |url=https://www.gp.org/sanders_socialism_is_old_fashioned_liberalism |access-date=June 4, 2023 |website=[[Green Party of the United States]]}}</ref>

[[Bhaskar Sunkara]] has characterized Sanders's politics as "[[class struggle]] social democracy", arguing that while [[post-war social democracy|postwar social democracy]] operated as a compromise that instituted [[Tripartism|tripartite]] arrangements between business, labor, and government to dampen class conflict, Sanders sees social democratic demands as a means to sharpening class confrontation and raising [[class consciousness]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2019/02/the-exercise-of-power |title=The Exercise of Power |last=Sunkara |first=Bhaskar |author-link=Bhaskar Sunkara |date=February 25, 2019 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |access-date=December 24, 2021}}</ref> His views have been echoed by [[George Eaton (journalist)|George Eaton]], arguing that Sunkara's phrase "captures the nuances of Sanders' politics in a way that a socialist / social democrat binary does not" and asserting that if he was elected president it would represent "the triumph of a politics that is neither wholly socialist, nor social democratic, but a new fusion of both".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/world/2020/03/bernie-sanders-socialist-or-social-democrat |title=Is Bernie Sanders a socialist, or a social democrat? |last=Eaton |first=George |author-link=George Eaton (journalist) |date=August 30, 2021 |website=[[New Statesman]] |access-date=December 24, 2021}}</ref>

===Climate change===
{{Further|Climate change policy of the United States}}

Sanders views [[global warming]] as a serious problem,<ref name="Totten">{{cite news |last=Totten |first=Shay |date=January 15, 2007 |title=Sanders to push global warming legislation in Senate |work=Vermont Guardian |quote=Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, said Monday he was making good on at least one of a handful of campaign promises&nbsp;— introducing a bill designed to cut U.S. contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade.&nbsp;... Sanders added that construction of new power plants is 'extraordinarily expensive' and he would prefer to see federal funding support used to expand the development of sustainable energy, as well as biofuels. |url=https://www.vermontguardian.com/local/012007/GlobalWarmingBill.shtml |access-date=August 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508004601/http://www.vermontguardian.com/local/012007/GlobalWarmingBill.shtml |archive-date=May 8, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> and advocates bold action to reverse its effects. He calls for substantial investment in infrastructure, with energy efficiency, [[sustainability]], and [[job creation]] as prominent goals.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2014/9/22/bernie_sanders_at_peoples_climate_march |access-date=February 14, 2020 |title=Bernie Sanders at People's Climate March: To Stop Global Warming, Get Dirty Money Out of Politics |work=[[Democracy now!]] |date=September 22, 2014 |first=Amy |last=Goodman}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Ashley III |last=Halsey |date=January 27, 2015 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2015/01/27/bernie-sanders-wants-to-spend-1-trillion-on-infrastruture/ |title=Bernie Sanders wants to spend $1 trillion on infrastruture |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=August 18, 2015}}</ref> He considers [[Climate change and national security|climate change the greatest threat]] to national security.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/260184-sanders-climate-change-still-greatest-threat-to-national-security |first=Jonathan |last=Easley |date=November 14, 2015 |title=Sanders: Climate change still greatest threat to national security |newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=December 19, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Totten"/> He said that [[family planning]] can help fight climate change.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bernie Sanders in climate change 'population control' uproar |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49601678 |access-date=February 14, 2020 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=September 5, 2019}}</ref> He opposed the construction of the [[Dakota Access Pipeline]] on the grounds that, like the [[Keystone XL Pipeline]], it "will have a significant impact on our climate."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/10/bernie-sanders-dakota-access-pipeline/ |access-date=February 14, 2020 |title=Bernie Sanders Just Asked President Obama to Halt the Dakota Access Pipeline |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=October 13, 2016 |first=Alexander |last=Sammon}}</ref> In 2019, he announced his support for [[Green New Deal]] legislation<ref>{{cite web |last=Olivia |first=Rosane |title=Bernie Sanders Enters 2020 Race, Promises Own Version of Green New Deal |url=https://www.ecowatch.com/bernie-sanders-2020-2629410846.html |date=February 19, 2019 |website=EcoWatch |access-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419115516/https://www.ecowatch.com/bernie-sanders-2020-2629410846.html |archive-date=April 19, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> and joined representatives [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]] and [[Earl Blumenauer]] in proposing legislation that would declare climate change a national and international emergency.<ref>{{cite news |last=Day |first=Meagan |date=July 10, 2019 |title=The US Government Should Declare Climate Emergency |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2019/07/climate-emergency-legislation-bernie-sanders-aoc |work=Jacobin |access-date=July 10, 2019}}</ref>

===Economic issues===
Sanders focuses on economic issues such as [[Income inequality in the United States|income]] and [[Wealth inequality in the United States|wealth inequality]],<ref name="Democratic socialist"/><ref>{{cite web |title=On the Issues: Income and Wealth Inequality |url=https://berniesanders.com/issues/income-and-wealth-inequality/ |publisher=BernieSanders.com |access-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620081832/https://berniesanders.com/issues/income-and-wealth-inequality/ |archive-date=June 20, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Poverty in the United States|poverty]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Pilkington |first=Ed |date=December 15, 2017 |title=Trump turning US into 'world champion of extreme inequality', UN envoy warns |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/15/america-un-extreme-poverty-trump-republicans |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=December 16, 2017 |quote=We are moving into 2018 – we should not be living in a country with 41 million people living in poverty and so many more in extreme poverty, and nobody even talks about it. – Bernie Sanders}}</ref> raising the minimum wage,<ref name = Lachman/> [[universal healthcare]],<ref name="Jaffe">{{cite news |last=Jaffe |first=Sarah |date=July 14, 2009 |title=Sanders Schools McCain on Public Healthcare |work=[[The Nation]] |quote=Senator Bernie Sanders is one of the Senate's fiercest advocates for real healthcare reform that puts Americans, not private insurance companies, first. Recently, Sanders told The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel, '[I]f you are serious about real healthcare reform, the only way to go is [[single-payer]].' |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/sanders-schools-mccain-public-healthcare/ |access-date=October 16, 2013 |archive-date=July 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706203905/http://www.thenation.com/article/sanders-schools-mccain-public-healthcare/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> canceling all [[student debt]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nobles |first1=Ryan |last2=Krieg |first2=Gregory |date=June 23, 2019 |title=Bernie Sanders to unveil plan to cancel all $1.6 trillion of student loan debt |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/23/politics/bernie-sanders-student-loan-debt-cancellation/index.html |access-date=June 24, 2019}}</ref> making public colleges and universities tuition-free by [[Robin Hood tax|taxing financial transactions]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Resnikoff |first=Ned |date=May 19, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders unveils plan for tuition-free public colleges |publisher=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/19/bernie-sanders-unveils-plan-for-tuition-free-public-colleges.html |access-date=August 18, 2015}}</ref> establishing a 32-hour work week,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sanders |first1=Bernie |last2=Fain |first2=Shawn |author-link2=Shawn Fain |date=March 19, 2024 |title=The case for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/19/32-hour-work-week-sanders-fain/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=March 21, 2024}}</ref> and expanding [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] benefits by eliminating the cap on the payroll tax on incomes above $250,000.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-calls-on-congress-to-strengthen-and-expand-social-security |title=Sanders Files Bill to Strengthen, Expand Social Security |website=Sanders.Senate.gov |date=March 12, 2015 |access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first1=Nicole |last1=Woo |first2=Janelle |last2=Jones |first3=John |last3=Schmitt |date=September 2011 |url=http://cepr.net/publications/reports/whos-above-the-social-security-payroll-tax-cap |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116062936/https://cepr.net/publications/reports/whos-above-the-social-security-payroll-tax-cap |archive-date=November 16, 2011 |title=Who's Above the Social Security Payroll Tax Cap? |work=[[Center for Economic and Policy Research]] |access-date=September 7, 2015}}</ref> He has become a prominent supporter of laws requiring companies to give their workers [[parental leave]], [[sick leave]], and [[List of statutory minimum employment leave by country|vacation time]], noting that nearly all other developed countries have such laws.<ref name="agenda">{{cite web |title=Family values agenda: paid family leave, paid sick leave, paid vacation |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/061115-familyvaluesagendafactsheet?inline=file |website=Senate office of Bernard Sanders |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615011347/https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/061115-familyvaluesagendafactsheet?inline=file |format=PDF |access-date=August 18, 2015 |archive-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref> He also supports legislation that would make it easier for workers to join or form a [[Labor unions in the United States|trade union]].<ref name="Economic Agenda">{{cite news |first=Bernie |last=Sanders |date=December 1, 2014 |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/an-economic-agenda-for-am_b_6249022 |title=An Economic Agenda for America: 12 Steps Forward |work=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=June 27, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Ned |last=Resnikoff |date=October 6, 2015 |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/10/6/bernie-sanders-proposes-labor-law-reforms.html |title=Bernie Sanders proposes sweeping labor law reforms |publisher=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |access-date=October 6, 2015}}</ref> He opposed the [[Troubled Asset Relief Program]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=303544 |title=(Video) Bailout Petition Statement |date=September 24, 2008 |publisher=Senate.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014003612/http://www.sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=303544 |archive-date=October 14, 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 29, 2010}}</ref> and has called for comprehensive financial reforms,<ref name="MarketWatch">{{cite web |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/text-of-bernie-sanders-wall-street-and-economy-speech-2016-01-05 |title=Text of Bernie Sanders' Wall Street and economy speech |website=[[MarketWatch]] |date=January 5, 2016 |first=Bernie |last=Sanders |access-date=January 6, 2016}}</ref> such as breaking up "[[too big to fail]]" financial institutions, restoring [[Glass–Steagall legislation]], reforming the [[Federal Reserve Bank]], and allowing the [[United States Postal Service|Post Office]] to offer basic financial services in economically marginalized communities.<ref name="huffingtonpost.com">{{cite news |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=May 7, 2015 |title=Break Up Big Banks |work=[[HuffPost]] |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/break-up-big-banks_b_7233284 |access-date=August 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name="politico.com">{{cite web |last1=Everett |first1=Burgess |title=Bernie Sanders backs big bank breakups, in contrast with Hillary Clinton |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-big-ban-break-ups-glass-steagall-120287 |date=July 17, 2015 |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=August 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news |last1=Sanders |first1=Bernie |title=Bernie Sanders: To Rein In Wall Street, Fix the Fed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/opinion/bernie-sanders-to-rein-in-wall-street-fix-the-fed.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223101619/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/opinion/bernie-sanders-to-rein-in-wall-street-fix-the-fed.html |archive-date=December 23, 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |date=December 23, 2015 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=December 23, 2015}}</ref>

Believing greater emphasis is needed on labor rights and environmental concerns when negotiating international trade agreements, Sanders voted against and has long spoken against [[NAFTA]], [[CAFTA]], and [[PNTR]] with China. He has called them a "disaster for the American worker", saying that they have resulted in American corporations moving abroad. He also opposes the [[Trans-Pacific Partnership]], which he says was "written by corporate America and the pharmaceutical industry and Wall Street."<ref>{{cite news |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=May 21, 2015 |title=The TPP Must Be Defeated |work=[[HuffPost]] |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-tpp-must-be-defeated_b_7352166 |access-date=August 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name="On the Issues">{{cite web |url=https://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Bernie_Sanders_Free_Trade.htm |title=Bernie Sanders on Free Trade |publisher=On the Issues |access-date=January 20, 2016}}</ref> On May 1, 2019, he tweeted: "Since the [[United States–China Relations Act of 2000|China trade deal]] I voted against, America has lost over three million manufacturing jobs. It's wrong to pretend that China isn't one of our major economic competitors."<ref>{{cite tweet |first=Bernie |last=Sanders |user=BernieSanders |number=1123743871375151104 |title=Since the China trade deal I voted against, America has lost over 3 million manufacturing jobs. It's wrong to pretend that China isn't one of our major economic competitors. When we are in the White House we will win that competition by fixing our trade policies. |date=May 1, 2019 |access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref>

Sanders also strongly opposes outsourcing American jobs.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 26, 2016 |url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/economy/307579-sanders-pressures-trump-with-anti-outsourcing-legislation/ |title=Sanders pressures Trump with anti-outsourcing legislation |last=Neidig |first=Harper |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> During discussions of the [[United States Innovation and Competition Act]], which was to be used to fund the manufacture of [[semiconductor]]s amid a shortage, he proposed a measure to ensure the companies the bill funded could not outsource their jobs. The proposed measure would also block the companies from forbidding their employees to unionize. Sanders's proposal was voted down by most Democrats and all Republicans in the Senate.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roll Call Vote 117th Congress – 2nd Session |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00153.htm |website=senate.gov |publisher=United States Senate |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 5, 2022 |url=https://www.salon.com/2022/05/05/senate-democrats-join-with-to-vote-down-bernie-sanders-effort-to-stop-outsourcing-2/ |title=Senate Democrats join with Republicans to vote down Bernie Sanders' effort to stop outsourcing |last=Skolnik |first=Jon |work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> Ahead of the 2022 midterms, Sanders said he wants the Democratic Party to focus more on supporting unionization: "I think we should move to a system where, if 50% of the workers in a bargaining unit plus one vote to form a union, they have a union. End of discussion."<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/bernie-sanders-wants-democrats-to-make-unions-their-biggest-message |date=April 28, 2022 |title=Bernie Sanders Wants Democrats to Make Unions Their Biggest Message |last=Walker |first=Hunter |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |access-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref>

Sanders supports establishing [[Worker cooperative|worker-owned cooperatives]] and introduced legislation numerous times from the 1990s to the 2020s that would aid workers who want to "form their own businesses or to set up worker-owned cooperatives."<ref name="Economic Agenda2">{{cite web |first=Bernie |last=Sanders |date=December 1, 2014 |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/an-economic-agenda-for-am_b_6249022.html |title=An Economic Agenda for America: 12 Steps Forward |work=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=June 27, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=June 2, 2014 |url=http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/worker-owned-businesses-2014 |title=Worker-Owned Businesses |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111203450/https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/worker-owned-businesses-2014 |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |work=sanders.senate.gov |access-date=May 22, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author-link=Richard D. Wolff |first=Richard D. |last=Wolff |date=June 27, 2015 |url=https://truthout.org/articles/socialism-means-abolishing-the-distinction-between-bosses-and-employees/ |title=Socialism Means Abolishing the Distinction Between Bosses and Employees |work=[[Truthout]] |access-date=July 9, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stancil |first=Kenny |date=December 22, 2022 |title=Sanders' Bill to Expand Worker Ownership Passes Senate in Omnibus |url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-worker-ownership |access-date=March 10, 2023 |website=Common Dreams}}</ref> As early as 1976, Sanders proposed [[workplace democracy]], saying, "I believe that, in the long run, major industries in this state and nation should be publicly owned and controlled by the workers themselves."<ref>{{cite web |first1=Ben |last1=Schreckinger |first2=Jonathan |last2=Topaz |date=July 6, 2015 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-socialist-surge-119785 |title=The Socialist Surge |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> Likewise, he supports empowering and expanding [[labor union]]s to advance [[union democracy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Workplace Democracy |url=https://berniesanders.com/issues/workplace-democracy/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |website=Bernie Sanders Official Website}}</ref> In 1987, Sanders defined democracy as [[public ownership]] and [[workers' self-management]] in the workplace, saying: "Democracy means public ownership of the major means of production, it means decentralization, it means involving people in their work. Rather than having bosses and workers it means having democratic control over the factories and shops to as great a degree as you can."<ref>{{cite web |first1=Ben |last1=Schreckinger |first2=Jonathan |last2=Topaz |date=July 6, 2015 |url=https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/1/27/1475904/-Sanders-Democracy-means-public-ownership-of-the-major-means-of-production |title=Sanders: 'Democracy means public ownership of the major means of production' |work=The Daily Kos |access-date=February 17, 2016}}</ref> In his [[Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign|2020]] run for president, he proposed that 20% of stocks in corporations with over $100&nbsp;million in annual revenue be [[Social ownership#Social ownership of equity|owned by the corporation's workers]] and that 45% of the board of directors of corporations with over $100&nbsp;million in annual revenue be [[Co-determination|elected by the workers]] of that corporation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Corporate Accountability and Democracy |url=https://berniesanders.com/issues/corporate-accountability-and-democracy/ |access-date=March 29, 2021 |website=Bernie Sanders Official Website}}</ref>

===Foreign policy===
[[File:110220-N-9584H-089.jpg|thumb|left|Sanders steps out of a [[Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk]] 
helicopter after arriving in Afghanistan in 2011.]]
Sanders supports reducing [[United States military spending|military spending]] while pursuing more diplomacy and [[international cooperation]]. He opposed funding the Nicaraguan rebels known as the [[contras]] in the [[CIA activities in Nicaragua|CIA]]'s [[Nicaragua v. United States|covert war]] against Nicaragua's leftist government.<ref>{{cite news |title=Who Was Naive About Bernie Sanders Meeting the Sandinistas? |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/05/who-was-naive-about-bernie-sanders-meeting-the-sandinistas/ |first=Jonathan M. |last=Katz |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=May 30, 2019}}</ref> He opposed the [[US invasion of Iraq]] and has criticized a number of policies instituted during the [[war on terror]], particularly that of [[Mass surveillance in the United States|mass surveillance]] and the [[Patriot Act|USA Patriot Act]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/video/flashback-rep-bernie-sanders-opposes-iraq-war |title=Flashback: Rep. Bernie Sanders Opposes Iraq War |work=Sanders.Senate.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109020357/https://www.sanders.senate.gov/video/flashback-rep-bernie-sanders-opposes-iraq-war |archive-date=January 9, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Krieg |first=Gregory |date=May 7, 2015 |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/117738/bernie-sanders-rips-nsa-spying-and-pushes-for-end-to-mass-surveillance |title=Bernie Sanders Rips NSA Spying and Pushes for End to Mass Surveillance |work=Mic.com |access-date=August 18, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Statement on NSA Surveillance |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/statement-on-nsa-surveillance |website=Sen. Bernie Sanders |access-date=October 13, 2015 |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117020349/http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/statement-on-nsa-surveillance |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?173117-1/house-session&start=46850 |date=October 9, 2002 |title=House Session |work=[[C-SPAN]] |access-date=February 14, 2020 |page=13:00:50}}</ref> He criticized Israel's actions during the [[2014 Israel–Gaza conflict|2014 Gaza war]]<ref>{{cite news |access-date=February 14, 2020 |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/bernie-sanders-accuses-netanyahu-of-overreacting-in-gaza-war/ |title=Bernie Sanders accuses Netanyahu of overreacting in Gaza war |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=November 19, 2015}}</ref> and US involvement in the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://theintercept.com/2018/02/28/yemen-war-bernie-sanders-saudi-arabia/ |access-date=February 14, 2020 |title=Bernie Sanders Wants Congress to End U.S. Support for Yemen War. Saudi Lobbyists Fought Similar Measures Last Year. |first1=Lee |last1=Fang |first2=Alex |last2=Emmons |work=[[The Intercept]] |date=February 28, 2018}}</ref> On November 15, 2015, in response to the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL)'s [[November 2015 Paris attacks|attacks in Paris]], he cautioned against [[Islamophobia]] and said, "We gotta be tough, not stupid" in the war against ISIL, adding that the US should continue to welcome Syrian refugees.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/16/politics/bernie-sanders-cleveland-isis/index.html |title=Bernie Sanders on ISIS: U.S. needs to be 'tough' not 'stupid' |last=LoBianco |first=Tom |date=November 17, 2015 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref> He criticized the January 2020 [[2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike|drone assassination]] of Iranian general [[Qasem Soleimani]], calling it a dangerous escalation of tensions that could lead to an expensive war.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Choi |first1=Matthew |title=2020 Dems warn of escalation in Middle East after Soleimani killing |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/02/soleimani-2020-iran-democrats-093123 |access-date=February 14, 2020 |work=[[Politico]] |date=January 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103071024/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/02/soleimani-2020-iran-democrats-093123 |archive-date=January 3, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sanders supports Palestinian rights and has often criticized Israel, while consistently supporting Israel's right to exist.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crowley |first=Michael |date=January 24, 2016 |title=Bernie and Israel: It's complicated |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/bernie-sanders-israel-218149 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Politico |language=en}}</ref> In 2020, he called the [[American Israel Public Affairs Committee]] a platform for bigotry and said he would not attend its conference.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/sanders-accuses-pro-israel-group-giving-platform-bigotry-200224071117944.html |title=Sanders accuses pro-Israel group of giving platform to 'bigotry' |first=Usaid |last=Siddiqui |date=February 24, 2020 |access-date=February 24, 2020 |publisher=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref> He condemned Trump's decision to [[United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel|recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital]], saying, "It would dramatically undermine the prospects for an [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process|Israeli–Palestinian peace agreement]], and severely, perhaps irreparably, damage the United States' ability to broker that peace."<ref>{{cite news |title=Liberal US Jews blast Trump's expected Jerusalem declaration |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberal-us-jews-blast-trumps-expected-jerusalem-declaration/ |first=Eric |last=Cortellessa |work=The Times of Israel |date=December 6, 2017 |access-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |title=Sanders Statement on Trump's Plan to Recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel |publisher=Senate.gov |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-trumps-plan-to-recognize-jerusalem-as-the-capital-of-israel |date=December 5, 2017 |access-date=February 28, 2020 |archive-date=February 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228142626/https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-trumps-plan-to-recognize-jerusalem-as-the-capital-of-israel |url-status=dead}}</ref> During the [[Gaza war]], he criticized [[Hamas]] for the [[October 7 attacks]] and Israel for its [[Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip|bombing of Gaza]]. He first called for only a pause in fighting, saying that he "doesn't know if a ceasefire is possible with an organization like Hamas",<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gannon |first1=Casey |title=Sanders says he doesn't know that a ceasefire is possible 'with an organization like Hamas' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/05/politics/sanders/index.html |date=November 5, 2023 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=November 9, 2023}}</ref> but later called for a humanitarian ceasefire and urged Biden to withhold military aid to Israel.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bolton |first1=Alexander |title=Sanders presses Biden to deny Israel $10.1 billion in military aid |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4358361-sanders-presses-biden-to-deny-israel-10-1-billion-in-military-aid/ |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |date=December 13, 2023 |access-date=December 14, 2023}}</ref> Sanders accused Israel of [[Gaza Strip famine|mass starvation]], [[ethnic cleansing]], and [[Extermination (crime)|extermination]]. Sanders initially said that [[Gaza genocide|allegations of genocide]] had to be adjudicated by the [[International Court of Justice]], but in September 2025 he said: "The intent is clear. The conclusion is inescapable: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza."<ref>{{cite web |title='Horrors upon horrors': How US Congress responded to mass hunger in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/26/horrors-upon-horrors-how-us-congress-responded-to-mass-hunger-in-gaza |website=aljazeera.com |publisher=Aljazeera |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sforza |first1=Lauren |title=Sanders says there's not 'any doubt' Netanyahu is perpetrating 'ethnic cleansing' |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4627250-bernie-sanders-benjamin-netanyahu-ethnic-cleansing-israel-gaza/ |website=thehill.com |date=April 28, 2024 |publisher=The Hill |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bernie Sanders calls war in Gaza a "genocide" |date=September 17, 2025 |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/09/17/bernie-sanders-gaza-genocide-war |access-date=17 September 2025}}</ref>

Addressing [[Westminster College (Missouri)|Westminster College]] in a September 2017 speech, Sanders laid out a foreign policy plan for greater international collaboration, adherence to US-led international agreements such as the [[Paris Agreement]] and the [[Iran nuclear deal framework]] and promoting human rights and democratic ideals. He emphasized the consequences associated with global economic inequality and climate change and urged reining in the use of US military power, saying it "must always be a last resort". He also criticized [[Foreign policy of the United States#Support for authoritarian governments|US support for "murderous regimes"]] during the [[Cold War]], such as those in [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Iran]], [[Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–90)|Chile]] and [[Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador|El Salvador]] and said that those actions continue to make the US less safe.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hancock |first=Jason |date=September 21, 2017 |title=Bernie Sanders, in Missouri speech, takes aim at 'outrageous' inequalities |url=https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article174608901.html |work=[[The Kansas City Star]] |access-date=September 24, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Detrow |first=Scott |date=September 21, 2017 |title=Bernie Sanders Lays Out His Foreign Policy Vision |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/09/21/552671703/bernie-sanders-lays-out-his-foreign-policy-vision |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=September 24, 2017}}</ref> He also spoke critically of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections and the way President Trump has handled the crisis.<ref>{{cite news |last=Berman |first=Paul |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/275223/american-left-2-foreign-policy |title=The Foreign Policy of the American Left |work=Tablet |date=November 18, 2018 |access-date=November 27, 2018}}</ref> He does not consider [[Turkey]] a US ally and condemned the [[2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria|Turkish military offensive]] against US-aligned [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|Kurdish forces]] in northeastern [[Syria]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Democratic debate: Military veterans Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Buttigieg clash over Syria |first=Negar |last=Mortazavi |access-date=February 9, 2020 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election/democratic-debate-tulsi-gabbard-syria-pete-buttigieg-trump-turkey-a9157711.html |work=[[The Independent]] |date=October 16, 2019}}</ref>

===Gun laws===
Sanders supports closing the "[[gun show loophole]]", [[Assault weapons legislation in the United States|banning assault weapons]], and passing and enforcing [[Universal background check|universal federal background checks for gun purchases]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ben |first1=Kamisar |title=Gun control push complicates Sanders's 2020 ambitions |date=February 28, 2018 |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/375927-gun-control-push-complicates-sanderss-2020-ambitions |website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=March 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303000936/https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/375927-gun-control-push-complicates-sanderss-2020-ambitions |archive-date=March 3, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=April 17, 2013 |url=https://projects.propublica.org/represent/votes/113/senate/1/97 |title=Represent: Senate Vote 97: Defeats Manchin–Toomey Background Checks Proposal |website=ProPublica |access-date=May 28, 2018 |first1=Derek |last1=Willis |first2=Allison |last2=McCartney |first3=Jeremy B. |last3=Merrill |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902164236/https://projects.propublica.org/represent/votes/113/senate/1/97 |archive-date=September 2, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Bernie_Sanders_Gun_Control.htm |title=Bernie Sanders on Gun Control |publisher=Ontheissues.org |access-date=July 27, 2016}}</ref> In 1990, his bid to become a US Representative benefitted from the [[National Rifle Association of America]] opposing the competing campaign of Peter Smith, who had reversed his stance on firearm restrictions, and waiting periods for handgun purchases.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-the-nra-helped-put-bernie-sanders-in-congress/2015/07/19/ed1be26c-2bfe-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html |title=How the National Rifle Association helped get Bernie Sanders elected |last=Fahrenthold |first=David A. |date=July 19, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US |access-date=July 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720114712/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-the-nra-helped-put-bernie-sanders-in-congress/2015/07/19/ed1be26c-2bfe-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html |archive-date=July 20, 2015 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}{{Subscription required|date=September 2023}}</ref> In 1993, while a US representative, he voted against the [[Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act]] (which established background checks and wait periods), and in 2005 voted for legislation that gave gun manufacturers legal immunity against claims of negligence, but {{as of|2016|lc=y}} he has since said that he would support repealing that law.<ref name=":11">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/01/26/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-bernie-sanderss-record-on-guns/ |title=Analysis: Everything you wanted to know about Bernie Sanders's record on guns|last=Lee|first=Michelle Ye Hee|date=January 26, 2016|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=June 4, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126162041/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/01/26/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-bernie-sanderss-record-on-guns/|archive-date=January 26, 2016|url-status=live|url-access=limited}}{{Subscription required|date=September 2023}}</ref> In 1996, he voted against additional funding to the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] for research on issues related to firearms, but in 2016, he called for an increase in CDC funding for the study of gun violence.<ref name=":11" />

===Social issues===
On social issues, Sanders has long taken progressive stances.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/bernie-sanders-explains-democratic-socialism-n466596 |title=Bernie Sanders explains democratic socialism |last=Seitz-Wald |first=Alex |date=November 19, 2015 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=March 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120003518/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/bernie-sanders-explains-democratic-socialism-n466596 |archive-date=November 20, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> He considers himself a [[Feminism|feminist]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Tumulty |first=Karen |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/09/24/hey-bernie-sanders-are-you-a-feminist |title=Hey Bernie Sanders, are you a feminist? |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=February 10, 2016}}</ref> is [[pro-choice]] on abortion, and opposes defunding [[Planned Parenthood]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Lavender |first=Paige |date=July 29, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders: GOP Efforts To Defund Planned Parenthood 'An Attack On Women's Health' |website=[[HuffPost]] |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-planned-parenthood_n_55b8f386e4b0074ba5a6fe60 |access-date=October 5, 2015}}</ref> He has long advocated for [[LGBT rights in the United States|LGBT rights]]; in 2009, he supported [[Marriage Equality Act (Vermont)|legalizing same-sex marriage in Vermont]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Frizell |first=Sam |newspaper=Time |title=How Bernie Sanders Evolved on Gay Marriage |url=https://time.com/4089946/bernie-sanders-gay-marriage/ |date=October 28, 2015 |access-date=August 14, 2017 |archive-date=September 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230916141916/https://time.com/4089946/bernie-sanders-gay-marriage/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sanders has denounced [[institutional racism]] and called for criminal justice reform to reduce the [[incarceration in the United States|number of people in prison]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Ken |date=August 16, 2015 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405080456/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-racism_us_55d10b2be4b055a6dab0a4a8 |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-racism_55d10b2be4b055a6dab0a4a8 |website=[[HuffPost]] |url-status=dead |title=Bernie Sanders Vows To Better Address Racism}}</ref> advocates a crackdown on [[Police brutality in the United States|police brutality]], and supports abolishing [[Private prison#United States|private, for-profit prisons]]<ref>{{cite news |access-date=February 14, 2020 |url=https://www.salon.com/2015/09/17/bernie_sanders_declares_war_on_the_prison_industrial_complex_with_major_new_bill/ |first=Sophia |last=Tesfaye |title=Bernie Sanders declares war on the prison-industrial complex with major new bill |website=[[Salon.com]] |date=September 17, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Bernie |last=Sanders |date=September 22, 2015 |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/we-must-end-for-profit-pr_b_8180124 |title=We Must End For-Profit Prisons |work=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=September 23, 2015}}</ref> and the [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/bernie-sanders-wants-to-abolish-the-death-penalty-vgtrn-1030/ |title=Bernie Sanders Wants to Abolish the Death Penalty |last=Schwartz |first=Drew |website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |date=October 29, 2015 |access-date=August 3, 2016 |quote=Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called for an end to the death penalty on Thursday, laying out his case in a Senate floor speech just one day after Hillary Clinton{{snd}}the party's 2016 frontrunner and Sanders' main rival for the nomination{{snd}}said she was opposed to abolishing the practice.}}</ref> He supports [[Black Lives Matter]].<ref name="Huffington Post2">{{cite web |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-tells-spike-lee-what-black-lives-matter-means-to-him_n_57067e01e4b0a506064e59e5 |title=Bernie Sanders Tells Spike Lee What Black Lives Matter Means To Him |website=[[HuffPost]] |date=April 7, 2016 |access-date=October 6, 2016 |last=Workneh |first=Lilly}}</ref> He also supports [[Legalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States|legalizing marijuana]] at the federal level.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zhang |first=Mona |date=October 24, 2019 |title=How Bernie Sanders would legalize marijuana |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/24/bernie-sanders-legalize-marijuana-056806}}</ref> He has advocated for greater democratic participation by citizens, [[Campaign finance reform in the United States|campaign finance reform]], and a constitutional amendment or judicial decision that would overturn ''[[Citizens United v. FEC]]''.<ref name="Legislation: Campaign Finance">{{cite web |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/legislation/issue/?id=a22c4c55-2c79-4d6b-895b-704230412415 |title=Legislation: Campaign Finance |website=Bernie Sanders: U.S. Senator for Vermont |publisher=Senate.gov |access-date=February 17, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Saving American Democracy Amendment">{{cite web |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/saving-american-democracy-amendment |title=Saving American Democracy Amendment |date=December 8, 2011 |work=Sanders.Senate.Gov |access-date=December 18, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Huffington Post">{{cite news |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sanders-to-senate-if-we-dont-overturn-citizens-united-the-congress-will-become-paid-employees-of-the-billionaire-class_b_6918468 |title=If We Don't Overturn Citizens United, The Congress Will Become Paid Employees of the Billionaire Class |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=March 22, 2015 |work=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=July 18, 2015}}</ref>

===First Trump administration===
Sanders criticized President Trump for appointing multiple billionaires to his cabinet.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/05/politics/bernie-sanders-trump-fraud/ |access-date=February 14, 2020 |title=Sanders on Trump: 'This guy is a fraud' |date=February 6, 2017 |publisher=[[CNN]] |first=Eric |last=Bradner}}<br />{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/317981-sanders-trump-is-a-fraud |title=Sanders: Trump is a 'fraud' |first=Mallory |last=Shelbourne |date=February 5, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref> He criticized Trump's rolling back President Obama's [[Clean Power Plan]], noting the scientifically reported effect on climate change of human activity and citing Trump's calling those reports a hoax.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/30/bernie-sanders-prioritizing-jobs-over-climate-chan/ |access-date=February 14, 2020 |title=Sanders: Prioritizing jobs over climate change is 'stupid and dangerous' |date=March 30, 2017 |website=[[The Washington Times]] |first=Douglas |last=Ernst}}</ref> He called for caution on the [[Syrian Civil War]], saying, "It's easier to get into a war than out of one."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/bernie-sanders-slams-trumps-airstrike-syria-2522629 |title=Bernie Sanders Slams Trump's Airstrike On Syria |first=Juliana Rose |last=Pignataro |date=April 7, 2017 |work=[[International Business Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Carney |first=Jordain |title=Sanders: Syria strikes could lead to Middle East quagmire |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/327822-sanders-syria-strikes-could-lead-to-middle-east-quagmire/ |website=The Hill |date=April 7, 2017 |access-date=November 11, 2024}}</ref> In 2017, he promised to defeat "Trump and Trumpism and the Republican right-wing ideology".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-bernie-sanders-event-20170219-story.html |title=Bernie Sanders in Los Angeles: 'The truth is that Trump is a pathological liar' |date=February 21, 2017 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |first=Javier |last=Panzer}}</ref>

Sanders gave an online reply to Trump's January 2018 [[State of the Union]] address in which he called Trump "compulsively dishonest" and criticized him for initiating "a looming immigration crisis" by ending the [[Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals]] program. He voiced concern about Trump's failure to mention the finding that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election and "will likely interfere in the 2018 midterms we will be holding&nbsp;... Unless you have a very special relationship with Mr. Putin".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Diaz |first1=Daniella |title=Bernie Sanders holds his own SOTU speech on-line |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/30/politics/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-2020-state-of-the-union/index.html |date=January 31, 2018 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=February 4, 2018}}</ref>

On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters [[January 6 United States Capitol attack|attacked the United States Capitol]]. Sanders commented: "[Trump] has made it clear that he will do anything to remain in power{{snd}}including insurrection and inciting violence [and he] will go down in history as the worst and most dangerous president in history."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haltiwanger |first1=John |title=Bernie Sanders skewers the president over Capitol siege: 'The man directly responsible for the chaos of today is Donald Trump' |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/sanders-says-trump-is-directly-responsible-for-capitol-siege-2021-1 |date=January 6, 2021 |website=[[Business Insider]] |access-date=January 8, 2021}}</ref>

Sanders voted to convict Trump on both articles of his [[First impeachment trial of Donald Trump|first impeachment trial]] in 2020 (for pressuring a foreign leader to investigate [[Joe Biden]]), and again on the sole article of his [[Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump|second impeachment trial]] in 2021 (for inciting the Capitol attack).<ref>{{Cite web |first=Paul |last=Heintz |newspaper=VT Digger |title=Leahy, Sanders vote to convict Trump of inciting insurrection |url=https://vtdigger.org/2021/02/13/leahy-sanders-vote-to-convict-trump-of-inciting-insurrection/ |access-date=April 23, 2021 |date=February 13, 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Biden administration===
Sanders influenced the [[Environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration|environmental policy goals of the Biden administration]] as described before Biden's nomination. Biden's policy team adopted certain details from the [[Biden-Sanders Unity Task Forces|Biden–Sanders Unity Task Forces]]' climate recommendations.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Berardelli |first1=Jeff |date=October 5, 2020 |title=How Joe Biden's climate plan compares to the Green New Deal |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/green-new-deal-joe-biden-climate-change-plan/ |publisher=[[CBS News]] |access-date=February 2, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Oprysko |first=Caitlin |title=Biden, Sanders unity task forces release policy recommendations |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/08/biden-sanders-unity-task-force-recommendations-353225 |website=Politico |date=July 8, 2020 |access-date=November 11, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force Recommendations |work=joebiden.com |url=https://joebiden.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/UNITY-TASK-FORCE-RECOMMENDATIONS.pdf |access-date=November 11, 2024 |archive-date=November 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241112132658/https://joebiden.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/UNITY-TASK-FORCE-RECOMMENDATIONS.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

After Biden was elected president, Sanders became the subject of speculation over a potential appointment as [[United States Secretary of Labor|Labor Secretary]], which was supported by several progressive groups, such as the [[Sunrise Movement]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Climate Mandate – The Team We Need to Combat the Climate Crisis |url=https://climatemandate.org/ |website=Climate Mandate |language=en-US |access-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-date=April 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419211224/https://climatemandate.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> For his part, Sanders said that he would accept Biden's nomination if it was offered, but [[Boston]] mayor [[Marty Walsh]] was chosen for the position instead. When announcing Walsh's nomination, Biden confirmed that he had discussed the position with Sanders, but the two agreed that Sanders's resignation from the Senate and the ensuing special election would have put the Democrats' slim Senate majority at risk.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Asher |date=January 8, 2021 |title=Here's Why Biden Didn't Pick Sen. Bernie Sanders for Labor Secretary |url=https://www.necn.com/news/politics/heres-why-biden-didnt-pick-sen-bernie-sanders-for-labor-secretary/2385333/ |website=NECN |language=en-US |access-date=April 23, 2021}}</ref>

On February 23, 2021, Sanders became the first senator in the Democratic caucus to oppose one of Biden's cabinet picks when he voted against [[Tom Vilsack]]'s confirmation as [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Agriculture Secretary]], citing concerns about Vilsack's past work as a lobbyist and ties to large corporations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Homan |first=Timothy R. |date=February 23, 2021 |title=Sanders votes against Biden USDA nominee Vilsack |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/540137-sanders-votes-against-biden-usda-nominee-vilsack |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |language=en-US |access-date=April 23, 2021}}</ref> In 2022, Sanders signed letters to Vilsack and [[Solicitor General of the United States]] [[Elizabeth Prelogar]] asking them to support the California farm [[animal welfare]] law [[2018 California Proposition 12|Proposition 12]] against a [[National Pork Producers Council v. Ross|challenge]] to the law the [[National Pork Producers Council]] filed before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shearer |first1=P. Scott |title=Senators call on USDA to support Prop 12 |url=https://www.nationalhogfarmer.com/farm-policy-news/senators-call-on-usda-to-support-prop-12 |website=National Hog Farmer |access-date=May 27, 2025 |date=April 22, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Padilla, Feinstein, Booker, Stabenow to Secretary Vilsack: Support California Prop 12 |url=https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-feinstein-booker-stabenow-to-secretary-vilsack-support-california-prop-12%EF%BF%BC/ |publisher=Office of Senator Alex Padilla |access-date=May 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830231831/https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-feinstein-booker-stabenow-to-secretary-vilsack-support-california-prop-12%EF%BF%BC/ |archive-date=August 30, 2022 |date=April 15, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Flynn |first1=Dan |title=Solicitor General's support invited for California's Proposition 12 |url=https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/06/solicitor-generals-support-invited-for-californias-proposition-12/ |website=Food Safety News |access-date=May 27, 2025 |date=June 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Padilla, Senators to Solicitor General Prelogar: Support California Prop 12 |url=https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-senators-to-solicitor-general-prelogar-support-california-prop-12/ |publisher=Office of Senator Alex Padilla |access-date=May 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826075842/https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-senators-to-solicitor-general-prelogar-support-california-prop-12/ |archive-date=August 26, 2022 |date=June 2, 2022}}</ref>

Sanders strongly supported Senate Democrats' decision to use [[Reconciliation (United States Congress)|budget reconciliation]], a procedure used to avoid [[Filibuster in the United States Senate|filibusters]], to pass the [[American Rescue Plan Act of 2021]], despite having criticized Republicans' use of reconciliation to pass the [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017|2017 tax cuts]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hooper |first=Kelly |date=January 24, 2021 |title=Bernie Sanders: Dems will use reconciliation to pass Covid relief 'as soon as we possibly can' |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/24/bernie-sanders-reconciliation-covid-relief-461843 |work=[[Politico]] |language=en-US |access-date=April 23, 2021}}</ref> The bill passed the Senate by a 50–49 vote and was signed into law by Biden on March 11, 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Kate |date=March 11, 2021 |title=Biden signs historic $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief law |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/11/politics/biden-sign-covid-bill/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |language=en-US |access-date=April 23, 2021}}</ref>

Sanders has continued to have a strong influence on the Biden administration. When it was noted that he had become a key voice in Biden's administration, he replied, "As somebody who wrote a book called ''Outsider in the House'', yes, it is a strange experience to be having that kind of influence that we have now." Their relationship has lasted over 30 years and Sanders has said it is based on respect and trust: "We have had a good relationship. He wants to be a champion of working families, and I admire that and respect that."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Semier |first1=Ashley |date=June 8, 2021 |title='Bernie Sanders has real influence': Vermont's longtime outsider has become a trusted voice in the Biden White House |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/08/politics/bernie-sanders-gloria-borger-interview-cnntv/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |language=en-US |access-date=November 25, 2021}}</ref>

Before the [[2022 United States elections|2022 midterm election]], Sanders said he regarded it as deciding the fate of democracy, abortion, and climate change, calling it "the most consequential midterm election" of modern US history. He expressed a fear that the Democratic Party had "not done a good enough job" of getting its message out "to young people and working-class people".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Salam |first=Erum |date=November 4, 2022 |title='They haven't tried': Bernie Sanders on Democrats' economic messaging |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/04/bernie-sanders-democrats-economy-midterms |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |access-date=November 15, 2022}}</ref>

Sanders was the only independent or Democratic senator to oppose the [[CHIPS and Science Act]], joining 17 Republican senators.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sprunt |first=Barbara |date=July 27, 2022 |title=Legislation to subsidize U.S.-made semiconductor chips heads to Biden's desk |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/07/26/1113470753/chip-production-semiconductor-senate |access-date=2025-03-03 |publisher=[[NPR]] |language=en}}</ref> He called the bill "[[crony capitalism]]" and set several conditions for acceptance of the bill: "Companies must agree to issue warrants or equity stakes to the federal government; they must commit to not buying back their own stock, outsourcing American jobs overseas or repealing existing collective bargaining agreements; and they must remain neutral in any union organizing efforts".<ref>{{Cite web |title=NEWS: Sanders Opposes All Blank Checks to Chip Companies » Senator Bernie Sanders |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-opposes-all-blank-checks-to-chip-companies/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Senator Bernie Sanders |language=en-US}}</ref>

In April 2023, Sanders endorsed Biden in the [[2024 United States presidential election]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 25, 2023 |title=Bernie Sanders endorses Biden, rules out 2024 bid of his own |first=Steve |last=Peoples |url=https://apnews.com/article/bernie-sanders-biden-endorsement-2024-d8f0772b117e2bf83e1062708ea651c0 |access-date=July 3, 2023 |work=[[Associated Press News]]}}</ref> and after [[Withdrawal of Joe Biden from the 2024 United States presidential election|Biden withdrew]] from the race, Sanders endorsed [[Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign|Harris for president]] at the [[2024 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=de Guzman |first=Chad |date=August 20, 2024 |title=Sanders Backs Harris and Progressive Agenda at DNC |url=https://time.com/7013208/bernie-sanders-dnc-speech-2024/ |access-date=August 27, 2024 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] }}{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> Sanders attempted to appeal to [[pro-Palestinian]] critics of Harris by saying, "I promise you, after Kamala wins, we will together do everything that we can to change US policy toward [[Benjamin Netanyahu|Netanyahu]]", and emphasizing [[Donald Trump]]'s policies on climate change, minimum wage, and tax cuts for the wealthy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bernie Sanders makes the case for Kamala Harris to pro-Palestinian critics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/28/politics/bernie-sanders-kamala-harris-israel-gaza/index.html |date=October 29, 2024 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=March 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Second Trump administration ===
Trump's reelection in 2024 was met with consternation by Democrats. The three richest men in America attended [[Second inauguration of Donald Trump|Trump's second inauguration]], and [[Elon Musk]]'s formation of [[Department of Government Efficiency|DOGE]], as well as the enactment of [[Project 2025]], were seen as myopic and unconstitutional, featuring policies such as reducing taxes on corporations and [[capital gain]]s, instituting a [[Flat tax|flat income tax]] on individuals,<ref name=":24">{{Cite news |date=July 12, 2024 |title=Project 2025 would overhaul the U.S. tax system. Here's how it could impact you. |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/project-2025-tax-trump-economy-heritage-foundation-how-it-works/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711224348/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/project-2025-tax-trump-economy-heritage-foundation-how-it-works/ |archive-date=July 11, 2024 |access-date=July 31, 2024 |publisher=[[CBS News]] |language=en-US}}</ref> cutting [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] and [[Medicaid]],<ref name="Barron-Lopez-2024">{{Cite news |last1=Barrón-López |first1=Laura |last2=Popat |first2=Shrai |date=May 22, 2024 |title=Trump's plans for healthcare and reproductive rights if he returns to White House |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/trumps-plans-for-healthcare-and-reproductive-rights-if-he-returns-to-white-house |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523011547/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/trumps-plans-for-healthcare-and-reproductive-rights-if-he-returns-to-white-house |archive-date=May 23, 2024 |access-date=May 22, 2024 |work=[[PBS NewsHour]]}}</ref><ref name="Park-2024">{{Cite web |last=Park |first=Edwin |date=June 17, 2024 |title=Project 2025 Blueprint Also Includes Draconian Cuts to Medicaid |url=https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2024/06/17/project-2025-blueprint-also-includes-draconian-cuts-to-medicaid/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617224857/https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2024/06/17/project-2025-blueprint-also-includes-draconian-cuts-to-medicaid/ |archive-date=June 17, 2024 |access-date=June 18, 2024 |publisher=Center for Children and Families, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University}}</ref> reversing President [[Joe Biden]]'s policies, and reducing environmental protections.<ref name="Waldman-2023">{{Cite news |last=Waldman |first=Scott |date=July 28, 2023 |title=Conservatives Have Already Written a Climate Plan for Trump's Second Term |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/28/far-right-climate-plans-00107498 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110135235/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/28/far-right-climate-plans-00107498 |archive-date=November 10, 2023 |access-date=November 13, 2023 |work=[[Politico]]}}</ref><ref name="what is that">{{Cite news |last=Logan |first=Nick |date=June 27, 2024 |title=You may hear Project 2025 during the U.S. presidential election campaign. What is that? |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-biden-project-2025-1.7249017 |access-date=July 27, 2024 |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |quote=The Heritage Foundation, the influential group behind Project 2025, has laid out sweeping reforms of virtually every aspect of government, including a plan that critics warn will line the public service with employees loyal to a Republican commander-in-chief, as well as providing an ultra-conservative framework for policies. Its stated goal is to undo most everything implemented in the previous four years of U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.}}</ref> After Trump won the election, Sanders released a statement blaming the Democratic Party's abandonment of "working-class people" for its defeat.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Pecorin |first1=Allison |last2=Deliso |first2=Meredith |date=November 7, 2024 |title=Bernie Sanders blasts Democratic Party following Kamala Harris loss |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-response-presidential-election/story?id=115582079 |access-date=November 7, 2024 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref> In February 2025, Sanders began the "[[Fighting Oligarchy Tour]]", in which he and [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez|Ocasio-Cortez]] held rallies criticizing Trump's policies and economic inequality.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 23, 2025 |title=Overflow Omaha crowd launches U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour |url=https://sourcenm.com/2025/02/23/overflow-omaha-crowd-launches-u-s-sen-bernie-sanders-fighting-oligarchy-tour/ |access-date=5 August 2025 |website=sourcenm.com |publisher=Source NM}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Witt |first1=Emily |date=March 25, 2025 |title=Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fight the Oligarchy |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/bernie-sanders-and-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-fight-the-oligarchy |access-date=5 August 2025 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref> In April 2025, Sanders criticized the administration, saying that its moving "rapidly toward oligarchy", he also called US a "pseudo-democracy".<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 6, 2025 |title=Bernie Sanders warns of US 'pseudo-democracy', slams influence of billionaires 'led by Musk' |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/bernie-sanders-warns-of-us-pseudo-democracy-slams-influence-of-billionaires-led-by-musk/articleshow/120040152.cms |access-date= |work=[[The Times of India]] |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

At one rally held in June 2025, Sanders reacted to news of Trump's [[United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites|bombing of Iranian nuclear sites]] by saying: "The American people are being lied to again today. We cannot allow history to repeat itself".<ref>{{cite web |title=Bernie Sanders calls US entering Israeli-Iran conflict a 'war based on lies.' |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2025/06/23/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-israel-iran-bombing/84315358007/ |website=burlingtonfreepress.com |publisher=Burlington Free Press |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Saldivar |first=Steve |date=June 22, 2025 |title=Watch the moment Senator Bernie Sanders learned the US attacked Iran |url=https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2025/06/22/bernie-sanders-trump-attacks-iran-unconstitutional/84307096007/ |access-date= |website=[[USA Today]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Also in June, Sanders endorsed [[Progressivism|progressive]] politician and [[Democratic Socialists of America|DSA]] member [[Zohran Mamdani]] for the [[2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary]], calling him "best choice" for mayor.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Adcroft |first1=Patrick |last2=Hogan |first2=Bernadette |date=June 17, 2025 |title=Bernie Sanders endorses Mamdani in the mayoral race |url=https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2025/06/17/sanders-endorses-mamdani-in-nyc-mayoral-race |access-date= |website=[[Spectrum News]] |language=en}}</ref> In September 2025, Sanders criticized [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] officials for their perceived refusal to support Mamdani after his victory in the New York City mayoral primary.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Fitzsimmons |first1=Emma |last2=Oreskes |first2=Benjamin |last3=Lerer |first3=Lisa |date=September 6, 2025 |title=Bernie Sanders Assails Democrats for Not Endorsing Mamdani |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/nyregion/bernie-sanders-zohran-mamdani.html |access-date= |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en}}</ref> In the same month, Sanders gave an interview to Mamdani in which they discussed Sanders's political beginnings and his achievements as a mayor and senator.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nichols |first=John |date=September 17, 2025 |title=Mayor to Mayor: A Conversation Between Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/bernie-sanders-zohran-mamdani-interview/ |access-date= |work=[[The Nation]] |language=en-US |issn=0027-8378}}</ref> On September 15, 2025, Sanders said that Israel is committing [[Gaza genocide|genocide in Gaza]], becoming the first US senator to make such comment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gedeon |first=Joseph |date=September 17, 2025 |title=Bernie Sanders becomes first US senator to say Israel committing genocide in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/17/bernie-sanders-israel-gaza-genocide |access-date= |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Party affiliations==
[[File:Bernie Sanders took part in his first partisan caucus last Tuesday to help Jesse Jackson win Burlington 1988 Edit.jpg|thumb|right|Clipping from ''[[The Vermont Cynic]]'', April 21, 1988]]
Born into a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]-voting family, Sanders was first introduced to political activism when his brother [[Larry Sanders (politician)|Larry]] joined the [[Young Democrats of America]] and campaigned for [[Adlai Stevenson II]] in 1956.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |title=Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In |date=November 15, 2016 |publisher=St Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-250-13292-5 |page=9}}</ref> Sanders joined Vermont's [[Liberty Union Party]] in 1971 and was a candidate for several offices, never coming close to winning election. He became party chairman,<ref name=":BeganRevolution">{{cite news |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2015/05/26/sanders-begin-political-revolution/27991467/ |title=Sanders: 'We begin a political revolution' |last1=Burbank |first1=April |last2=Donoghue |first2=Mike |date=May 26, 2015 |newspaper=[[Burlington Free Press]] |access-date=March 12, 2019}}</ref> but quit in 1977 to become an independent.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wgdlAAAAIBAJ&pg=5788,2134518 |title=Liberty Union Party Chief in Vermont Quits Position |date=October 12, 1977 |work=Nashua Telegraph |access-date=March 1, 2016 |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> In 1980, he served as an elector for the [[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers Party]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Amber |title=Bernie Sanders: A Somewhat Reluctant Socialist |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/19/bernie-sanderss-surprisingly-slow-embrace-of-the-term-socialism/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=June 7, 2020 |date=November 19, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/bernie-sanders-electability-eric-alterman/ |url-status=live |title=The Liberal Case Against Bernie |last=Alterman |first=Eric |journal=The Nation |date=April 15, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0027-8378 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328131614/https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-electability-eric-alterman/ |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-date=March 28, 2019}}</ref> In 1981, Sanders ran as an independent for mayor of Burlington, Vermont, and defeated the Democratic incumbent; he was reelected three times.<ref name="Dreier2015" /> Although an independent, he endorsed Democratic presidential candidates [[Walter Mondale]] in [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]] and [[Jesse Jackson]] in [[Jesse Jackson presidential campaign, 1988|1988]]. His endorsement of Mondale was lukewarm (telling reporters that "if you go around saying that Mondale would be a great president, you would be a liar and a hypocrite"), but he supported Jackson enthusiastically.<ref name="mojo">{{cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/12/bernie-sanders-jesse-jackson-campaign |title=This Is the Campaign That Explains Bernie Sanders |last=Murphy |first=Tim |date=December 17, 2015 |website=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |access-date=January 22, 2017}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that the Jackson campaign helped inspire Sanders to work more closely with the Democratic Party.<ref name="mojo" /><ref name="wapo" />[[File:10.02.2023 - Audiência com o Senador Bernie Sanders (52680144037).jpg|thumb|Sanders with [[President of Brazil]] [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] in 2023]]Sanders attended the 1983 conference of the [[Socialist Party USA]] where he gave a speech.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 13, 2016 |title=In Speech from 1983, Sanders Rails Against the Establishment |publisher=[[WNYC]] |url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/speech-1983-sanders-rails-against-establishment |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128194001/https://www.wnyc.org/story/speech-1983-sanders-rails-against-establishment/ |first=Andrea |last=Bernstein |archive-date=November 28, 2020 |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>

Sanders first ran for the US House of Representatives in [[1988 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont|1988]] and for the US Senate in [[2006 United States Senate election in Vermont|2006]], often adopting a strategy of winning the Democratic Party primary, thereby eliminating Democratic challengers, and then running as an independent in the general election.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/21/bernie-sanders-is-still-borrowing-the-democratic-party/ |title=Bernie Sanders is still borrowing the Democratic Party |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=May 21, 2018 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=March 12, 2019}}</ref> He continued this strategy through his reelection in the [[2018 United States Senate election in Vermont]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/21/bernie-sanders-democrat-independent-vermont-601844 |date=May 21, 2018 |title=Sanders to run as a Democrat — but not accept nomination |last=Dovere |first=Edward-Isaac |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=March 12, 2019}}</ref> Throughout his tenure in Congress, he has been listed as an independent. He caucused with Democrats in the House<ref name="Shoah"/> while refusing to join the party,<ref name=":17" /> and continues to caucus with Democrats in the Senate.<ref name="Jones"/> Some conservative southern House Democrats initially barred him from the caucus as they believed that allowing a self-described socialist to join would harm their electoral prospects.<ref name=wapo/> He soon came to work constructively with Democrats, voting with the party over 90% of the time during his tenure in Congress.<ref name=wapo/>

Starting with his 2016 presidential campaign, Sanders's announcements suggested that not only was he running as a Democrat, but that he would run as a Democrat in future elections.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2015/11/05/sanders-declares-democrat-nh-primary/75242938/ |first=Kathleen |last=Ronayne |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[Burlington Free Press]] |title=Sanders declares as Democrat in NH primary |date=November 5, 2015 |quote=Sanders says he'll run as a Democrat in future elections. He says, 'I am running as a Democrat obviously, I am a Democrat now.' |access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Blomquist |first1=Dan |last2=Way |first2=Robert |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2015/11/05/sanders-declares-democrat-new-hampshire-primary/jxK9D2LQAAKYdUW9CyjjdM/story.html |title=Bernie Sanders files for Democratic ballot in N.H. primary |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=November 5, 2015 |quote=When a reporter asked Sanders his party allegiance after he filed, Sanders responded, 'I'm a Democrat.' He then called on Buckley, the Democratic chairman, who confirmed the senator's party allegiance. Sanders added that he would run as a Democrat in any future elections. |access-date=December 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Seitz-Wald |first1=Alex |last2=Koenig |first2=Kailani |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/sanders-files-new-hampshire-state-ballot-without-incident-n458271 |title=Sanders Files for New Hampshire State Ballot Without Incident |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=November 5, 2015 |access-date=August 30, 2023 |quote=Sanders declared himself a Democrat Thursday, and said he will run as a Democrat in future elections, and that was good enough for Gardner.}}</ref> When challenged by Clinton about his party commitment, he said, "Of course I am a Democrat and running for the Democratic nomination."<ref name=":19">{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/03/politics/democratic-town-hall-highlights/ |title=Clinton, Sanders clash over what it means to be progressive |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=February 5, 2016 |first=MJ |last=Lee |access-date=December 20, 2019}}</ref> Since he remained a senator elected as an independent, his US Senate website and press materials continued to refer to him as an independent during the campaign and upon his return to the Senate.<ref name=":22">See [https://www.senate.gov/general/search/search_cfm.cfm?q=+%22Sanders+%28I-VT%29%22&x=16&y=10&site=default_collection&num=10&filter=0 search results for "Sanders (I-VT)" at www.senate.gov].</ref><ref name=":23">{{Cite news |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/07/26/bernie-sanders-to-return-to-senate-as-an-independent/ |title=Bernie Sanders to Return to Senate as an Independent |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=July 26, 2016 |access-date=August 6, 2016 |first=Peter |last=Nicholas}}</ref> In October 2017, Sanders said he would run for reelection as an independent in 2018 despite pressure to run as a Democrat.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/356650-sanders-to-run-as-an-independent-in-2018 |title=Sanders to run as an independent in 2018 |last=Thomsen |first=Jacqueline |date=October 22, 2017 |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=November 12, 2017}}</ref> His party status became ambiguous again in March 2019 when he signed a formal "loyalty pledge" to the Democratic Party stating that he was a member of the party and would serve as a Democrat if elected president. He signed the pledge the day after he signed paperwork to run as an independent for reelection to the Senate in 2024.<ref name=":18" />

After Trump's victory in the 2016 elections, Sanders suggested the Democratic Party undergo a series of reforms and that it "break loose from its corporate establishment ties and, once again, become a grass-roots party of working people, the elderly and the poor."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/opinion/bernie-sanders-where-the-democrats-go-from-here.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112011314/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/opinion/bernie-sanders-where-the-democrats-go-from-here.html |archive-date=November 12, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Bernie Sanders: Where the Democrats Go From Here |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |last1=Sanders |first1=Bernie |date=November 11, 2016 |access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> He drew parallels between his campaign and that of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 UK general election]].<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Dan |last2=Asthana |first2=Anushka |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/02/i-dont-think-he-needs-my-advice-bernie-sanders-applauds-jeremy-corbyn |title='There's a real similarity': Corbyn gets rousing support from Bernie Sanders |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=June 2, 2017 |access-date=July 15, 2017}}</ref><ref name="independent">{{cite news |last=Kentish |first=Ben |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bernie-sanders-jeremy-corbyn-praise-democracy-cambridge-union-us-senator-democrat-labour-leader-a7769091.html |title=Bernie Sanders praises 'courageous' Jeremy Corbyn for 'revitalising democracy' |work=[[The Independent]] |date=June 2, 2017 |access-date=July 15, 2017}}</ref> He wrote in ''The New York Times'' that "the British elections should be a lesson for the Democratic Party" and urged the Democrats to stop holding on to an "overly cautious, centrist ideology", arguing that "momentum shifted to Labour after it released a very progressive manifesto that generated much enthusiasm among young people and workers."<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/opinion/bernie-sanders-how-democrats-can-stop-losing-elections.html |title=Bernie Sanders: How Democrats Can Stop Losing Elections |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 13, 2017 |access-date=August 1, 2017}}</ref><ref name="newstatesman">{{cite news |last=Hasan |first=Mehdhi |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/world/2017/06/prime-minister-jeremy-corbyn-sitting-down-president-bernie-sanders-no-longer-sounds-so |title=Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn sitting down with President Bernie Sanders no longer sounds so outlandish |work=[[New Statesman]] |date=June 26, 2017 |access-date=August 1, 2017}}</ref> He had earlier praised [[Jeremy Corbyn]]'s stance on class issues.<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Michael |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/23/bernie-sanders-backs-jeremy-corbyn-in-labour-leadership-race |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/23/bernie-sanders-backs-jeremy-corbyn-in-labour-leadership-race |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Bernie Sanders 'backs Jeremy Corbyn' in Labour leadership race |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=August 23, 2016 |access-date=July 15, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Sanders is one of two independents in the Senate, along with [[Angus King]], both of whom caucus with the [[Senate Democratic Caucus|Democrats]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Our Caucus |url=https://www.democrats.senate.gov/about-senate-dems/our-caucus |access-date=January 17, 2025 |website=Senate Democratic Leadership}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Bernie and Jane Sanders by Gage Skidmore (cropped).jpg|thumb|Sanders with his wife [[Jane Sanders|Jane O'Meara]] in Des Moines, Iowa, January 2016]]
In 1963, Sanders and Deborah Shiling Messing, whom he met in college, volunteered for several months on the Israeli [[kibbutz]] [[Sha'ar HaAmakim]]. They married in 1964 and bought a summer home in Vermont; they had no children and divorced in 1966.<ref name=Politico/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wisloski |first1=Jess |last2=Galloway |first2=Anne |title=Bernie Sanders' Early Days in Vermont: His Life, Loves and Circuitous Route to Politics |newspaper=VTDigger |location=Montpelier, VT |date=July 9, 2015 |url=https://vtdigger.org/2015/07/09/bernie-sanders-early-days-in-vermont-his-life-loves-and-circuitous-route-to-politics/ |access-date=May 23, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Aderet |first1=Ofer |title=Mystery Solved? Haaretz Archive Reveals Which Kibbutz Bernie Sanders Volunteered On |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.701513 |website=Haaretz |access-date=February 5, 2016 |date=February 4, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Shoah"/> His son (and only biological child), Levi Sanders, was born in 1969 to then-girlfriend Susan Campbell Mott.<ref name="The Populist Prophet"/>

On May 28, 1988, Sanders married [[Jane Sanders|Jane O'Meara Driscoll]] ({{née|Mary Jane O'Meara}}), who later became president of [[Burlington College]], in Burlington, Vermont.<ref>{{cite web |last=Greenhouse |first=Emily |date=May 12, 2015 |title=Getting to Know Jane Sanders, Wife of Bernie |publisher=[[Bloomberg News]] |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-12/getting-to-know-jane-sanders-wife-of-bernie |access-date=August 19, 2015}}</ref> The day after their wedding, the couple visited the Soviet Union as part of an official delegation in his capacity as mayor.<ref>{{cite news |title=George Will describes Bernie Sanders' Soviet Union honeymoon |access-date=August 30, 2023 |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/aug/12/george-will/george-will-reminds-readers-about-bernie-sanders-u/ |work=[[PolitiFact]] |last=Cabaniss |first=Will |date=August 12, 2015}}</ref> They own a [[row house]] in [[Capitol Hill]], a house in Burlington's [[New North End]] neighborhood, and a lakefront [[summer home]] in [[North Hero]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2016/08/08/bernie-sanders-buys-a-summer-home-in-north-hero |title=Bernie Sanders Buys a Summer Home in North Hero |first=Sasha |last=Goldstein |date=August 8, 2016 |publisher=Seven Days}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/08/bernie-sanders-summer-house |title=Bernie Sanders Buys His Third House |last=Nguyen |first=Tina |date=August 9, 2016 |website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] – The Hive |access-date=February 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-criticized-twitter-users-having-three-houses-587721 |title=Bernie Sanders tweeted about billionaires' greed, then some Twitter users brought up his three homes |last=Marcin |first=Tim |date=April 21, 2017 |website=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=February 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2016/08/10/bernie-sanders-buys-a-half-million-dollar-vacation-home-and-the-internet-cries-hypocrisy/ |title=Bernie Sanders buys a $575,000 vacation home and the Internet cries hypocrisy |last=Andrews-Dyer |first=Helena |date=August 10, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=February 5, 2019}}</ref> He considers Jane's three children—Dave Driscoll (born 1975), [[Carina Driscoll]] (born 1974), and Heather Titus ({{née|Driscoll}}; 1971)—to be his own.<ref name=Politico/><ref name=cnnfastfacts1/>

Sanders's elder brother, [[Larry Sanders (politician)|Larry]], lives in England;<ref>{{cite news |title=The Sanders brothers: A tale of two underdogs |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=August 30, 2023 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33254500 |date=August 4, 2015 |last=Webber |first=Esther}}</ref> he was a [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]] [[county council]]lor, representing the East Oxford [[Electoral division (UK)|division]] on [[Oxfordshire County Council]], until he retired from the council in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--none given--> |date=June 4, 2009 |title=Election results for East Oxford |publisher=Oxfordshire County Council |url=http://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/%28S%2833rhih553gpijinuki3kvf55%29%29/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=27 |access-date=May 19, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!--none given--> |date=June 8, 2013 |title=Green County Councillor Retires |publisher=Oxfordshire Green Party |url=http://www.greenoxfordshire.com/news/green-county-councillor-retires.html |access-date=July 18, 2015 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621104503/https://www.greenoxfordshire.com/news/green-county-councillor-retires.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Larry ran as a Green Party candidate for [[Oxford West and Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford West and Abingdon]] in the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 British general election]] and came in fifth.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hansen |first=Lauren |date=May 8, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders' brother lost his longshot bid for British Parliament |work=The Week |url=https://theweek.com/speedreads/554052/bernie-sanders-brother-lost-longshot-bid-british-parliament |access-date=May 8, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Collinson>{{cite news |last=Collinson |first=Stephen |date=May 7, 2015 |title=Bernie Sanders' brotherly love |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/07/politics/bernie-sanders-brother-larry-sanders-uk/index.html |access-date=May 8, 2015}}</ref> Bernie Sanders told CNN, "I owe my brother an enormous amount. It was my brother who actually introduced me to a lot of my ideas."<ref name=Collinson/>

===Health===
On October 1, 2019, Sanders was hospitalized after experiencing chest pains at a campaign event in [[Las Vegas]]. His campaign announced the next day that a blockage had been found in one [[Coronary arteries|coronary artery]] and two [[stent]]s inserted.<ref name = ChoiOtterbein>{{cite news |last1=Choi |first1=Matthew |last2=Otterbein |first2=Holly |title=Bernie Sanders suffered heart attack, has been discharged from hospital |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/04/bernie-sanders-heart-attack-000276 |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=October 4, 2019 |date=October 4, 2019}}</ref> Scheduled campaign events and appearances were canceled until further notice.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Parks |first1=Maryalice |last2=Margolin |first2=Josh |last3=Karson |first3=Kendall |title=Bernie Sanders hospitalized with chest pain, campaign events canceled |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-78-canceled-events-notice-hospitalized/story?id=66003850 |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=October 2, 2019 |date=October 2, 2019}}</ref> Two days later his campaign released a statement that he had been diagnosed with a heart attack. He was released from the hospital the same day.<ref name = ChoiOtterbein/> The statement included the following from Sanders's doctors:<ref>{{cite news |title=Bernie Sanders suffered a heart attack, campaign reveals |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-10-04/bernie-sanders-suffered-a-heart-attack-doctors-reveal-says-he-feels-great-after-release-from-hospital |first=Matt |last=Pearce |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=October 8, 2019 |date=October 4, 2019}}</ref>

{{blockquote|After presenting to an outside facility with chest pain, Sen. Sanders was diagnosed with a [[myocardial infarction]]. He was immediately transferred to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. The senator was stable upon arrival and taken immediately to the cardiac catheterization laboratory, at which time two stents were placed in a blocked coronary artery in a timely fashion. All other arteries were normal. His hospital course was uneventful with good expected progress. He was discharged with instructions to follow up with his personal physician.}}
A few days after returning home, Sanders addressed media outside his home and said he had experienced fatigue and chest discomfort for a month or two before the incident; he expressed regret for not seeking medical assessment sooner: "I was dumb."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bernie-sanders-i-was-dumb-to-ignore-symptoms-before-heart-attack/ar-AAItjVB |title=Bernie Sanders to scale back campaign schedule in the wake of heart attack |last1=Krieg |first1=Gregory |last2=Nobles |first2=Ryan |date=October 8, 2019 |publisher=MSN |access-date=October 9, 2019}}</ref>

Sanders made his first national appearance after his heart attack on October 15 at the Democratic debate, at which he said, "I'm healthy, I'm feeling great." When asked how he would reassure voters about his health and ability to take on the duties of the presidency, he said, "We are going to be mounting a vigorous campaign all over this country. That is how I think I can reassure the American people." It was noted that he was "lively and sharp at the debate."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Villa |first1=Lissandra |title=Bernie Sanders Leverages the Debate for a Comeback Just Weeks After a Heart Attack |url=https://time.com/5701745/bernie-sanders-debate-health/ |date=October 16, 2019 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=October 16, 2019 |archive-date=September 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903010023/https://time.com/5701745/bernie-sanders-debate-health/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In December 2019, three months after the heart attack, Sanders released letters from three physicians, [[Attending Physician of the United States Congress|Attending Physician of Congress]] [[Brian P. Monahan]] and two [[cardiologists]], who declared Sanders healthy and recovered from his heart condition.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/us/politics/bernie-sanders-health-medical-records.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230205016/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/us/politics/bernie-sanders-health-medical-records.html |archive-date=December 30, 2019 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Bernie Sanders Is in 'Good Health,' His Doctors Say |author=Ember, Sydney |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 30, 2019 |access-date=February 2, 2020}}</ref>

===Honors and awards===
On December 4, 2015, Sanders won ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'}}s 2015 [[Time Person of the Year|Person of the Year]] readers' poll with 10.2% of the vote<ref>{{cite web |first=Nick |last=Gass |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/bernie-sanders-time-person-of-the-year-poll-216481 |title=Bernie Sanders wins Time's Person of the Year readers' poll |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=December 7, 2015 |date=December 7, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Sam |last=Frizell |date=December 7, 2015 |url=https://time.com/4137173/bernie-sanders-time-person-of-the-year-poll-win/ |title=Bernie Sanders Wins Readers' Poll for Time Person of the Year |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=December 7, 2015 |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201205406/https://time.com/4137173/bernie-sanders-time-person-of-the-year-poll-win/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> but did not receive the editorial board's award. On March 20, 2016, he was given an honorary [[Lushootseed]] name, {{lang|lut|dxʷshudičup}},{{efn|name="CoastSalishName"|Approximated {{IPAc-en|d|uː|s|'|h|uː|d|iː|tʃ|uː|p}} in English; {{literal translation|lk=on}}&nbsp;'the one lighting the fires for change and unity' in [[Lushootseed]]}} by [[Deborah Parker]] in [[Seattle]] to honor his focus on Native American issues during his presidential campaign.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--None listed.--> |date=March 25, 2016 |orig-year=Updated; originally published March 23, 2016 |title=U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders honoured with Coast Salish name |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/bernie-sanders-receives-coast-salish-name-1.3504078 |url-status=live |department=News (Indigenous) |publisher=[[CBC News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724230238/https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/bernie-sanders-receives-coast-salish-name-1.3504078#selection-2311.0-2323.210 |archive-date=July 24, 2018 |access-date=July 24, 2018}}</ref>

On May 30, 2017, Sanders received an honorary degree of [[Doctor of Humane Letters]] from [[Brooklyn College]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Singman |first=Brooke |title=Bernie Sanders slams GOP health care plans at New York college graduation |publisher=[[Fox News]] |location=New York City |date=May 30, 2017 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bernie-sanders-slams-gop-health-care-plans-at-new-york-college-graduation |access-date=May 30, 2017}}</ref>

===Religion, heritage, and values===
As Sanders described his upbringing as an [[American Jews|American Jew]] in a 2016 speech: his father generally attended synagogue only on [[Yom Kippur]]; he attended [[American public schools|public schools]] while his mother "chafed" at his [[yeshiva]] Sunday schooling at a Hebrew school; and their religious observances were mostly limited to [[Passover]] [[Passover Seder|seders]] with their neighbors. Larry Sanders said of their parents, "They were very pleased to be Jews, but didn't have a strong belief in [[God in Judaism|God]]."<ref name=NYT02242016>{{cite news |last=Berger |first=Joseph |title=Bernie Sanders Is Jewish, but He Doesn't Like to Talk About It |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=A16 |date=February 24, 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/us/politics/bernie-sanders-jewish.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224173210/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/us/politics/bernie-sanders-jewish.html |archive-date=February 24, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=February 24, 2016}}</ref> Bernie had a [[bar mitzvah]]<ref name=Sellers/> at the historic [[Kingsway Jewish Center]] in [[Midwood, Brooklyn]], where he grew up.<ref name=NYT02242016/>

In 1963, in cooperation with the [[Labor Zionism|Labor Zionist]] youth movement [[Hashomer Hatzair]], Sanders and his first wife [[Kibbutz volunteer|volunteered]] at [[Sha'ar HaAmakim]], a kibbutz in northern Israel.<ref>{{cite news |last=Zeveloff |first=Naomi |date=February 4, 2016 |title=Bernie Sanders Kibbutz Revealed at Last |url=https://forward.com/news/israel/332946/revealed-at-last-inside-the-kibbutz-where-bernie-sanders-lived-and-learned/ |newspaper=Forward |access-date=February 4, 2016}}</ref><ref name="jtamysterysolved">{{cite news |title=Mystery solved: Sanders volunteered at Kibbutz Shaar HaEmekim |url=https://www.jta.org/2016/02/05/politics/sanders-in-1990-named-the-kibbutz-were-he-stayed-in-the-early-1960s |access-date=February 5, 2016 |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=February 5, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Frances Stead Sellers |title=The kibbutz Bernie Sanders stayed in may have been revealed |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/05/the-kibbutz-bernie-sanders-stayed-in-may-have-been-revealed/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 5, 2016 |access-date=February 6, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Jewish"/> His motivation for the trip was as much socialistic as it was Zionistic.<ref name=NYT02242016/>

As mayor of Burlington, Sanders allowed a [[Chabad]] [[public menorah]] to be placed at city hall, an action the [[American Civil Liberties Union|ACLU]] contested. He publicly inaugurated the [[Hanukkah]] [[Menorah (Hanukkah)|menorah]] and performed the Jewish religious ritual of [[Hanukkah music#Hanukkah blessings|blessing Hanukkah candles]].<ref name=NYT02242016/> His early and strong support played a significant role in the now widespread [[public menorah]] celebrations around the globe.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kellner |first=Mark |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/bernie-sanders-supported-religious-liberty-in-menorah-dispute/2016/02/10/f46d1250-d042-11e5-90d3-34c2c42653ac_story.html |title=Bernie Sanders supported religious liberty in menorah dispute |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 10, 2016 |access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ziri |first=Danielle |url=https://www.jpost.com/US-Elections/Sanders-may-play-down-Judaism-but-he-has-a-fan-in-Chabad-Lubavitch-444487 |access-date=August 30, 2023 |title=Sanders may play down Judaism, but he played big role in Hannukah case |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=February 10, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Sally |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/09/us/the-law-menorah-ruling-little-new-light.html |access-date=August 30, 2023 |title=The Law; Menorah Ruling: Little New Light |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 9, 1988}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3224239/jewish/Some-More-Info-on-Bernie-Sanders-and-Judaism-blog.htm |title=Some More Info on Bernie Sanders and Judaism (blog) |website=[[Chabad.org]] |access-date=December 19, 2019}}</ref> When asked about his Jewish heritage, Sanders has said that he is "proud to be Jewish."<ref name="Jewish"/>

Sanders rarely speaks about religion.<ref name="Sellers"/> He describes himself as "not particularly religious"<ref name="Jewish"/> and "not actively involved" with [[organized religion]].<ref name="Sellers"/> A press package issued by his office states his religion as Jewish.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/press-package?download=1 |title=Press Package |website=Sanders.Senate.gov |access-date=February 5, 2015}}</ref> He has said he believes in God, but not necessarily in a traditional way: "I think everyone believes in God in their own ways", he said. "To me, it means that all of us are connected, all of life is connected, and that we are all tied together."<ref name="Sellers">{{cite news |last1=Sellers |first1=Frances |last2=Wagner |first2=John |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bernie-sanders-finally-answers-the-god-question/2016/01/26/83429390-bfb0-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html |title=Why Bernie Sanders doesn't participate in organized religion |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 27, 2016 |access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Winston |first=Kimberly |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/bernie-sanders-disappoints-some-atheists-with-very-strong-religious-feelings/2016/02/04/433a07f8-cb89-11e5-b9ab-26591104bb19_story.html |title=Bernie Sanders disappoints some atheists with 'very strong religious' feelings |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 4, 2016 |access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> In October 2015, on the [[late-night talk show]] ''[[Jimmy Kimmel Live!]]'', Kimmel asked him, "You say you are culturally Jewish and you don't feel religious; do you believe in God and do you think that's important to the people of the United States?" Sanders replied:<ref>{{cite news |last=Friedman |first=Gabe |url=https://www.haaretz.com/watch-sanders-talks-larry-davids-impression-and-marijuana-1.5412790 |title=Watch: Bernie Sanders talks spirituality, Larry David and marijuana on 'Jimmy Kimmel' |work=[[Haaretz]] |date=October 24, 2015 |access-date=August 30, 2023}}</ref>

{{blockquote|I am who I am, and what I believe in and what my spirituality is about is that we're all in this together. That I think it is not a good thing to believe as human beings we can turn our backs on the suffering of other people&nbsp;... and this is not Judaism, this is what Pope Francis is talking about, that we can't just worship billionaires and the making of more and more money. Life is more than that.}}

In 2016, he disclosed that he had "very strong religious and spiritual feelings", adding, "My spirituality is that we are all in this together and that when children go hungry, when veterans sleep out on the street, it impacts me."<ref name="jtasandersdiscussesfaith">{{cite news |title=Sanders discusses faith, Clinton grapples with rabbinical question on humility |url=https://www.jta.org/2016/02/04/politics/sanders-discusses-faith-clinton-grapples-with-rabbis-question-on-humility |access-date=February 4, 2016 |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=February 4, 2016}}</ref>

Sanders does not regularly attend synagogue, and he does not refrain from working on [[Rosh Hashanah]], as observant Jews do. He has attended [[Yahrzeit|yahrzeit observances]] in memory of the deceased, for the father of a friend, and in 2015 attended a [[Tashlikh]], an atonement ceremony, with the mayor of Lynchburg on the afternoon of [[Rosh Hashanah]].<ref name=NYT02242016/> According to [[Richard Sugarman]], his Jewish identity is "certainly more ethnic and cultural than religious."<ref>{{cite news |last=Kampeas |first=Ron |url=https://forward.com/news/322284/bernie-sanders-opens-up-about-jewish-upbringing-at-last/ |access-date=August 30, 2023 |title=Bernie Sanders Opens Up About Jewish Upbringing{{snd}}at Last |work=[[The Forward]] |date=October 8, 2015 }}</ref> His wife is [[Roman Catholic]], and he has often expressed admiration for [[Pope Francis]], saying that "the leader of the [[Catholic Church]] is raising profound issues. It is important that we listen to what he has said." He has said he feels very close to Francis's economic teachings, describing him as "incredibly smart and brave".<ref name=gaudiano/><ref name="Pope Francis">{{cite web |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=February 15, 2015 |title=Pope Francis |publisher=Senate.gov |url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/pope-francis |access-date=June 13, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Heilman |first=Uriel |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-35999269 |access-date=August 30, 2023 |title=New Hampshire Jews all over the map ahead of presidential primary |work=The Times of Israel |date=February 2, 2016}}</ref> In April 2016, he accepted an invitation from [[Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo]], an aide close to Francis, to speak at a Vatican conference on economic and environmental issues. While at the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], he met briefly with Francis.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/us/politics/bernie-sanders-vatican.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416022005/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/us/politics/bernie-sanders-vatican.html |archive-date=April 16, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=As Bernie Sanders Heads to Vatican, a Visit With Pope Francis Seems in Doubt |first=Jason |last=Horowitz |date=April 15, 2016 |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 17, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/51a3860bb14940608f9f6539bd441f4e |title=Pope: Sanders encounter sign of good manners, 'nothing more' |first=Ken |last=Thomas |date=April 16, 2016 |work=[[Associated Press News]] |access-date=April 17, 2016}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
In December 1987, during his tenure as mayor of Burlington, Sanders recorded a folk album, ''[[We Shall Overcome (Bernie Sanders album)|We Shall Overcome]]'', with 30 Vermont musicians. As he was not a skilled singer, he performed his vocals in a [[talking blues]] style.<ref name="nprbehindthemusic">{{cite news |date=January 30, 2016 |title=Behind The Music: Bernie Sanders |publisher=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/01/30/464736315/behind-the-music-bernie-sanders |access-date=February 4, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Stuart |first=Tessa |date=December 2, 2015 |title=The Untold Story of Bernie Sanders' 1987 Folk Album |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-untold-story-of-bernie-sanders-1987-folk-album-20151202 |access-date=February 4, 2016 |archive-date=February 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211185947/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-untold-story-of-bernie-sanders-1987-folk-album-20151202 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Senator Bernie Sanders speaking at LA Fighting Oligarchy Tour rally.jpg|thumb|Senator Bernie Sanders speaking at a Fighting Oligarchy Tour rally in Los Angeles in April 2025]]

===Internet culture===
Owing to his two high-profile campaigns in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic primaries, Sanders and his campaigns have generated many [[Internet meme]]s and other online content. The [[Facebook group]] [[Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash]], where users can submit memes focused around Sanders, received significant attention in the 2016 primary season due to the at-the-time unique idea of a meme community focused entirely on a politician.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Can Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash Swing the Election? |last=Buzz |first=Carles |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/bernie-sanders-dank-meme-stash-facebook-page/ |date=February 22, 2016 |access-date=January 21, 2021 |work=Vice Motherboard |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ashkinaze |first=Josh |title=Politicians Should Embrace Internet Memes |url=https://oberlinreview.org/9607/opinions/politicians-should-embrace-internet-memes/ |date=February 12, 2016 |access-date=January 21, 2021 |website=The Oberlin Review}}</ref> During the 2020 primary season, a still from a fundraising video in which Sanders tells the viewers "I am once again asking for your financial support" went [[Viral phenomenon|viral]] online, with numerous edits made of the frame.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The Bernie Sanders Meme Pile on Has Commenced |url=https://time.com/5779804/bernie-sanders-memes/ |access-date=January 21, 2021 |date=February 7, 2020 |last=Hoffman |first=Ashley |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807090158/https://time.com/5779804/bernie-sanders-memes/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ewart |first=Asia |title=Bernie Sanders' Campaign Ad Became A Viral Meme & We Are Here For It |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/02/9347494/bernie-sanders-meme-i-am-once-again-asking-viral |date=February 4, 2020 |access-date=January 21, 2021 |work=Refinery29 |language=en-US}}</ref> The day before [[Super Tuesday, 2020|Super Tuesday 2020]], a video of the Twitch streamer [[Neekolul]] wearing a Bernie 2020 shirt and lip-syncing the song "[[OK boomer|Oki Doki Boomer]]" also went viral.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Let the 'OK Boomer' Girl Live |first=Gita |last=Jackson |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/let-the-ok-boomer-girl-live/ |access-date=January 21, 2021 |website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |date=April 10, 2020}}</ref> In 2021, a frame from the [[inauguration of Joe Biden]] showing Sanders seated in a folding chair wearing patterned mittens and a jacket reminiscent of the one in the "I am once again asking" meme [[Bernie Sanders mittens meme|went viral]], with the image captioned or edited into other images, most commonly popular movie scenes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Romano |first=Aja |date=January 20, 2021 |title=Bernie Sanders inauguration memes are liberal comfort food |url=https://www.vox.com/2021/1/20/22241280/bernie-sanders-inauguration-day-memes-coat |access-date=January 21, 2021 |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ives |first1=Mike |last2=Victor |first2=Daniel |date=January 21, 2021 |title=Bernie Sanders Is Once Again the Star of a Meme |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/us/politics/bernie-sanders-meme.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121112856/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/us/politics/bernie-sanders-meme.html |archive-date=January 21, 2021 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=January 21, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===In film and television===
Sanders appeared in a cameo role in the 1988 comedy-drama film ''[[Sweet Hearts Dance]]'', playing a man who distributes candy to young trick-or-treaters.<ref>{{cite web |last=Blevis |first=Joe |date=February 5, 2016 |title=Bernie Sanders has appeared in not one, but two low-budget rom-coms |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/who-knew-bernie-sanders-had-career-low-budget-rom--231777 |access-date=February 5, 2016}}</ref> In 1999, he acted in the film ''[[My X-Girlfriend's Wedding Reception]]'', playing Rabbi Manny Shevitz. In this role, he mourned the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]]' move to Los Angeles, reflecting Sanders's own upbringing in Brooklyn.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wagner |first=Meg |date=February 4, 2016 |title=Bernie Sanders plays rabbi Manny Shevitz in 1999 romantic comedy, goes on long-winded Brooklyn Dodgers rant |work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |location=New York |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bernie-sanders-played-rabbi-1999-romantic-comedy-article-1.2519921 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625132953/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bernie-sanders-played-rabbi-1999-romantic-comedy-article-1.2519921 |url-status=live |access-date=February 4, 2016 |archive-date=June 25, 2016}}</ref> On February 6, 2016, he was a guest star alongside [[Larry David]] (who is a sixth cousin once removed of Sanders) on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', playing a Polish immigrant on a [[steamship]] that was sinking near the [[Statue of Liberty]].<ref name="SNL">{{cite web |last=Sanders |first=Sam |date=February 7, 2016 |title=With A Little Help From Larry David, Bernie Sanders Does SNL |publisher=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/02/07/465892623/with-a-little-help-from-larry-david-bernie-sanders-does-snl |access-date=February 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 5, 2017 |title=Here's the Moment Bernie Sanders and Larry David Found Out They're Cousins |url=https://time.com/4970053/bernie-sanders-larry-david-finding-your-roots-pbs/ |access-date=December 3, 2023 |magazine=Time |archive-date=December 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203193028/https://time.com/4970053/bernie-sanders-larry-david-finding-your-roots-pbs/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the [[DC Extended Universe]] film ''[[Birds of Prey (2020 film)|Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)]]'', one of the reasons [[Black Mask (character)|Roman Sionis]] wants [[Harley Quinn]] dead is that she "voted for Bernie".<ref>{{cite web |last=Grebey |first=James |date=February 7, 2020 |title=Harley Quinn Voted for Bernie Sanders in ''Birds of Prey'', Apparently |website=[[GQ]] |url=https://www.gq.com/story/harley-quinn-bernie-sanders |access-date=February 17, 2022}}</ref>

==Publications==

=== Books ===
* With [[Huck Gutman]], {{cite book |title=[[Outsider in the White House]] |publisher=[[Verso Books]] |location=London |year=2015 |orig-year=1997 |isbn=978-1-78478-418-8 |oclc=918986570}}
* In {{cite book |chapter=Why Americans Should Take Back the Media |title=The Future of Media: Resistance and Reform in the 21st Century |editor1=[[Robert W. McChesney|Robert McChesney]] |editor2=Russell Newman |editor3=Ben Scott |publisher=[[Seven Stories Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-58322-679-7 |oclc=57574152}}
* {{cite book |title=The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class |publisher=[[Bold Type Books]] |year=2015 |orig-year=2011 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-56858-554-3 |oclc=927456901 |lccn=2011920256 |ol=25090387M |title-link=The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class}}
* {{cite book |title=Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In |publisher=[[Thomas Dunne Books]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-250-13292-5 |oclc=1026148801 |title-link=Our Revolution (Sanders book)}}
* {{cite book |title=Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution |publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-250-13890-3 |oclc=999379791 |title-link=Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution}}
* {{cite book |title=Where We Go from Here: Two Years in the Resistance |publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-432-86916-8 |oclc=1126540640 |title-link=Where We Go from Here}}
* {{cite book |date=2023 |title=It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism |location= |publisher=[[Crown Books]] |page= |isbn=978-0593238714 |title-link=It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism}}
* [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/816543/fight-oligarchy-by-senator-bernie-sanders/ ''Fight Oligarchy'', Crown Books], Oct. 2025.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUn1A0sEDrc |title=Sen. Bernie Sanders - Harnessing Energy From "No Kings" Rally to "Fight Oligarchy" {{!}} The Daily Show |date=2025-10-20 |last=The Daily Show |access-date=2025-10-21 |via=YouTube}}</ref> ISBN 979-8217089161

=== Articles ===
* "Ending America's Endless War." ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', June 24, 2019<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=June 24, 2019 |title=Ending America's Endless War |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2019-06-24/ending-americas-endless-war |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120}}</ref>
* "Washington's Dangerous New Consensus on China." ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', June 17, 2021<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=June 17, 2021 |title=Washington's Dangerous New Consensus on China |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-06-17/washingtons-dangerous-new-consensus-china |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120}}</ref>
* "A Revolution in American Foreign Policy." ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', March 18, 2024<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=March 18, 2024 |title=A Revolution in American Foreign Policy |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/revolution-american-foreign-policy-bernie-sanders |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120}}</ref>
* "Democrats must choose: The elites or the working class." ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', November 10, 2024<ref>{{cite news |title=Democrats must choose: The elites or the working class |first=Bernie |last=Sanders |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |issn=0743-1791 |date=November 10, 2024 |access-date=November 10, 2024 |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/10/opinion/democratic-party-working-class-bernie-sanders/ |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* "Bernie Sanders: Kennedy Must Resign." ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 30, 2025<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanders |first=Bernie |date=August 30, 2025 |title=Bernie Sanders: Kennedy Must Resign |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/opinion/bernie-sanders-robert-f-kennedy-jr-resign-hhs.html |url-access=subscription  |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250830120529/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/opinion/bernie-sanders-robert-f-kennedy-jr-resign-hhs.html |archive-date=August 30, 2025 |access-date=August 31, 2025 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=1553-8095}}</ref>


==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{anl|American Left}}
* [[Electoral history of Bernie Sanders]]
* [[Socialism in the United States|History of the socialist movement in the United States]]
* [[List of elected socialist mayors in the United States]]
* [[List of Jewish members of the United States Congress]]
* [[List of people who received an electoral vote in the United States Electoral College]]
* ''[[Spintharus berniesandersi]]'' – Species of arachnid named after Sanders
* [[Third-party members of the United States House of Representatives]]
{{div col end}}

==Explanatory notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|25em|refs=

<ref name="stone_p483">{{cite book |last1=Stone |first1=Kurt F. |title=The Jews of Capitol Hill: A Compendium of Jewish Congressional Members |date=2010 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-0-8108-5731-5 |oclc=755001191 |page=483 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ACTF56SnaykC&pg=PA483}}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
* "Bernie Sanders Explains... Why Americans Are Furious at the Democrats: The ''[[The Nation|Nation]]'' Interview [by [[John Nichols (journalist)|John Nichols]]]", ''[[The Nation]]'', vol. 321, no. 4 (November 2025), pp. 30–34. "[T]he [Democratic] party is saying, '[W]e can't support [Zohran Mamdani, running for New York City mayor] because he is saying what 75 percent of Democrats say about [[Israel]]: No more money for [[Benjamin Netanyahu|Netanyahu]].' [p. 32.] [T]he money people decide who the candidates are... [p. 33.] A few years ago ... a poll [showed that] [a]lmost 60 percent of the people said [they] were better off 50 years ago. [p. 34.]"
* {{cite book |last=Rall |first=Ted |date=2016 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mMaUCwAAQBAJ |title=Bernie |publisher=Hollowbrook Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-1-60980-698-9}}
* {{cite journal |last=Rice |first=Tom W. |year=1985 |title=Who Votes for a Socialist Mayor?: The Case of Burlington, Vermont |journal=Polity |doi=10.2307/3234575 |issn=0032-3497 |jstor=3234575 |oclc=5546248357 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=795–806 |s2cid=153889856}}
* {{cite book |last=Rosenfeld |first=Steven |date=1992 |title=Making History in Vermont: The Election of a Socialist to Congress |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bBRyAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Hollowbrook Publishing |location=Wakefield, NH |isbn=978-0-89341-698-0 |lccn=91034055 |oclc=24468446 |ol=1553980M}}
* {{cite book |last=Soifer |first=Steven |date=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S8h4AAAAMAAJ |title=The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont |publisher=Praeger |location=Westport, CN |isbn=978-0-89789-219-3 |lccn=90048954 |oclc=22491683 |ol=1887682M}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|b=no|commons=Category:Bernie Sanders|d=y|n=yes|q=Bernie Sanders|s=Author:Bernie Sanders|v=no|wikt=no}}
* [https://www.sanders.senate.gov/ Senator Bernie Sanders] official US Senate website
* [https://berniesanders.com/ Campaign website]
* {{C-SPAN|994}}
{{CongLinks | congbio=s000033 | fec=S4VT00033 | congress=bernard-sanders/1010| votesmart=27110}}

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