Independent Vermont Sen. and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had a multitude of combative moments during his Monday night town hall on Fox News.
WATCH:
Sanders got snippy during a back-and-forth when the topic of his taxes came up, which coincidently occurred only a short time after he released 10 years of tax returns and it confirmed his status as a millionaire.
MacCallum: “So would you be willing to pay 52% on the money that you made? You can volunteer, you can send it back”
Bernie: “You can volunteer too…why don’t you give? You make more money than I do”
M: “I didn’t suggest a wealth tax”
Baier: “And she’s not running for POTUS” pic.twitter.com/zn4XrzJIXG
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 15, 2019
MacCallum asked Sanders, “So would you be willing to pay 52% on the money that you made? You can volunteer, you can send it back.”
“You can volunteer too…why don’t you give? You make more money than I do,” Sanders retorted.
“I didn’t suggest a wealth tax,” MacCallum fired back, and Baier chimed in, “And she’s not running for POTUS.” (RELATED: Fox News’ Prime-Time Ratings Double Those For Warren And Gillibrand)
The moderators then went to the audience for a question.
A woman brought up socialism, read the definition of it, and asked Sanders, “How can you challenge the idea that socialism is bad in the minds of the public?”
Sanders pointed to Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, the two Fox News anchors moderating the event, and said, “Ask them, not me.”
Baier then asked if this is “going to be a constant thing.”
“You ask me fair questions, I will give you fair answers,” the Democratic presidential candidate answered, before going into a diatribe about how Fox News “does not necessarily have a great deal of respect in my world.”
Minutes later, Sanders became critical of the media as whole, suggesting that the issues individuals bring up to him are not the ones that the media covers.
Following that criticism, Baier shot back, “We’re very grateful that you’re here,” Baier said. “We are giving you an hour of substance and talk on our airwaves. So we can get over the Fox thing. If you’re alright with that?”
Sanders was the first declared presidential candidate to have a town hall on the network. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz had a town hall on the network earlier this month, but he has not yet declared a formal run.
The Vermont senator’s decision to have this event on Fox News bucks the Democratic National Committee’s decision not to allow the network to host a presidential debate. DNC Chairman Tom Perez released a statement about the DNC’s decision last month, saying that Fox News is “not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate,” citing a New Yorker report, which alleged that Fox News has become a propaganda outlet for the Trump administration.
