Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that he wants to lead a "political revolution," as he believes he is the only presidential candidate capable of taking on the billionaire class.
"I think I'm the only candidate who's prepared to take on the billionaire class," Sanders told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week." "We need a political revolution in this country involving millions of people who are prepared to stand up and say 'enough is enough,' and I want to help lead that effort."
Sanders, currently Hillary Clinton's sole challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination, announced his campaign last week.
In doing so, he pledged not to start a Super PAC that could accept unlimited donor contributions and not to allow billionaires to bankroll his campaign. On his first official campaign day, he attracted 100,000 supporters and raised $1.5 million, with an average donation of $43, reported the Guardian.
According to Sanders, Clinton might as well be included in the class of detached wealthy Americans.
"Hillary Clinton has been part of the political class for many, many years. I respect her and I like her, but I think what the American people are saying is, maybe it's time for a real political shakeup in this country," said Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist.
Stephanopoulos questioned Sanders about the ongoing controversy over foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation and their alleged influence over State Department policy decisions made by then-Secretary of State Clinton. Attempting to remain neutral toward his opponents, Sanders said, "It's not just the Clinton Foundation. It's not just Hillary. It is the Koch brothers, it is Sheldon Adelson," he said, referring to wealthy conservative donors.
"Here are my concerns ... and it should be the concern of every American. Can somebody who is not a billionaire, who stands for working families, actually win an election into which billionaires are pouring millions of dollars?"
He continued: "I think at a time when we have seen trillions of dollars shift from the middle class to the top one-tenth of 1 percent, we have got to say very frankly that the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations are going to have to start paying their fair share of taxes; profitable corporations can't stash their money in the Cayman Islands and avoid about $100 billion a year in taxes."
When Stephanopoulos asked Sanders about his socialist tendencies - whether the country was ready for such a political ideology - Sanders matter-of-factly stated, "What's wrong with that?"
"So long as we know what democratic socialism is," he continued. "And if we know that in countries, in Scandinavia, like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, they are very democratic countries, obviously. The voter turnout is a lot higher than it is in the United States. In those countries, health care is the right of all people. And in those countries, college education, graduate school is free. In those countries, retirement benefits, childcare are stronger than in the United States of America. And in those countries, by and large, government works for ordinary people and the middle class, rather than, as is the case right now in our country, for the billionaire class."
