Bernie Sanders Explains How 'You Can Be a Millionaire, Too'

As he pledges to release 10 years of tax returns
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 10, 2019 1:00 AM CDT
Bernie Sanders Confirms He's Now a Millionaire
In this April 8, 2019, photo, Sanders, speaks at a convention of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Las Vegas.   (AP Photo/John Locher)

Bernie Sanders has joined the ranks of America's millionaires. The White House hopeful promised Tuesday that he would release 10 years of tax returns by Monday, and admitted that his income has soared since the "very boring" tax return he released during his 2016 campaign, reports the New York Times. "I wrote a best-selling book," he said. "If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too." Sanders, who has been under pressure to release his full tax returns, rejected comparisons to President Trump. "On the day in the very immediate future, certainly before April 15, we release ours, I hope that Donald Trump will do exactly the same," he said. "We are going to release 10 years of our tax returns, and we hope that on that day Donald Trump will do the same."

The financial disclosures Sanders is required to file as a member of Congress show that he received more than $880,000 in book royalties in 2017 and a similar amount the year before, the Washington Post reports. His books include "Where We Go From Here," which was published last year. In 2016, the Post ranked Sanders as the 19th poorest senator. Sanders often speaks out against millionaires and billionaires on the campaign trail, and the pro-Trump PAC America Rising mocked him after his comment on writing a best-selling book. The group sent out an email titled "One Percenter Bernie Makes The Case For Capitalism." Campaign manager Faiz Shakir tells CNN that Sanders "believes in opportunity for all," and he is very concerned that "the opportunity that he has had is evaporating for so many others." (More Bernie Sanders stories.)

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