Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is now a millionaire, hit back at criticism of his growing net worth, crediting his book for his cushy financial situation.
“I didn’t know that it was a crime to write a good book which turns out to be a best-seller,” the 2020 hopeful said Saturday during a Gary, Indiana, community meeting, CNN reported.
Sanders then pointed out that he has advocated for progressive taxation, meaning, “If I make a lot of money, you make a lot of money.”
“So again, I don’t apologize for writing a book that was No. 3 on the New York Times best-seller, translated into five or six languages and that’s that,” he added.
In an interview with the Times published Tuesday, Sanders vowed to release 10 years’ worth of his tax returns “on or before” Monday, acknowledging that it would highlight his additional income. However, he emphasized it was thanks to his best-seller.
“I wrote a best-selling book,” he declared. “If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too.”
His 2017 Senate financial disclosures reveal that out of the approximately $1 million he earned that year, more than 80 percent was generated by book revenues.
Sanders, who made his rebukes of “millionaires and billionaires” a virtual tagline of his 2016 campaign, released his book “Our Revolution” in 2016 just after President Donald Trump’s election. It landed almost immediately on the Times’ list.