News/Commentary

CBS actually calls out Bernie Sanders for charging 95$ to events touting his capitalism-trashing book

February 19, 2023 | | Print Article

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was called out to his face over his book tour’s ties to monopolistic Ticketmaster and his dismissive response was the epitome of hypocritical socialist elites.

(Video: CBS)

Sunday, two days before the release of “It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism,” Sanders joined CBS host Margaret Brennan for a sit down interview on “Face the Nation.” While the full conversation was close to a half-hour long, loaded with his routine push to tax the rich and expand entitlements, it was the closing confrontation that raised eyebrows.

Seemingly reluctant to even pose her question, Brennan slow-walked her way into pointing out, “Tickets for your tour apparently are selling for $95 on Ticketmaster, which is accused of anti-competitive behavior. You know that, some of your Democrats are criticizing them.”

“Aren’t you benefiting from the same system you’re trying to dismantle?” she asked.

The blurb for Sanders’ book begins, “A progressive takedown of the uber-capitalist status quo that has enriched millionaires and billionaires at the expense of the working class, and a blueprint for what transformational change would actually look like.”

Evidently, the Vermont lawmaker, and proud owner multiple homes including his “summer camp” considers himself among those who “can’t do” so instead “teach” as he passed off responsibility for his supporters getting gauged to hear him prattle on to the publisher and whatever deal they struck with Ticketmaster.

“Those decisions are made totally by the publisher and the bookseller. I think there’s one case where in one place here in Washington, Politics and Prose, an independent bookstore charging some tickets. Most of them, I think are 40 dollars, 50 dollars, and you get a book as well. So if you want to come, you’re going to have to pay 40 bucks,” he said unequivocally before continuing like a typical huckster, suggestive wink included, “I’ll throw in the book for free.”

“And we’re doing a number of free events,” he added with the claim,”But I don’t make a nickel out of these things.”

Of course, the topped out ticket price wasn’t even the final cost pushed onto the consumer as Ticketmaster includes their own fees of $16 bringing the charge to as much as $111 a piece.

As previously reported, the Department of Justice opened an antitrust investigation into Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation Entertainment with a New York Times report stating, “Members of the antitrust division’s staff at the Justice Department have in recent months contacted music venues and players in the ticket market, asking about Live Nation’s practices and the wider dynamics of the industry.”

Even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had slammed the company as a monopoly for their merger and demanded in the fall, “Break them up.”

Brennan went on to ask the senator, “But you’re okay doing business with Ticketmaster?”

To that, he nonchalantly replied “No, not particularly,” as he concluded once more that he “had nothing to do with that.”

DONATE TO AMERICAN WIRE

If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to American Wire News to help us fight them.

$10
$15
$25
$50
Other
$
Thank you for your donation!
Kevin Haggerty
Latest posts by Kevin Haggerty (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles