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Bernie Sanders spotted flying first class to Pittsburgh to support socialist Summer Lee

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Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was snapped ditching his socialist principals to fly first class to campaign for a woke Democrat state representative candidate.  

Sanders was spotted on an American Airlines flight to Pittsburgh Friday to stump for State Representative Summer Lee, running for an open seat in Pennsylvania’s 18th District. 

Sanders, wearing a mask, appears to head for the front of the plane in the photos obtained by Fox News from a fellow first class traveler.

He was also snapped by an excited Twitter user in the same row, although its unclear if Sanders availed himself of the free booze and food offered to first class fliers. 

Lee has the endorsement of Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and ‘squad’ progressives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman and Ayanna Pressley, as well as Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal. 

She defeated an incumbent Democrat in 2018 with the endorsement of her local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and is the first black woman to represent southwestern Pennsylvania in the state legislature.

Senator Bernie Sanders (pictured left) - America's most prominent so-called Democratic Socialist - traveled first class to Pittsburgh Friday to stump for a fellow far left candidate for Congress

Senator Bernie Sanders (pictured left) – America’s most prominent so-called Democratic Socialist – traveled first class to Pittsburgh Friday to stump for a fellow far left candidate for Congress

Lee endorses far left policies like the Green New Deal, abolishing prisons, reversing the Hyde Amendment to allow for government-funded abortions and Sanders’ signature Medicare For All government-run health care system.   

The Vermont independent endorsed Lee and spoke at her Pittsburgh rally on Thursday alongside Mayor Ed Gainey.

He made no mention of his luxury flight, and instead discussed class divisions in the United States.  

‘We have a working class, a middle class, in this country who are struggling and it’s absolutely imperative we get (people) into Congress who are prepared to stand up and take on powerful special interest and fight for working families,’ Sanders said to Action News 4. ‘Summer is one of those people who will do that.’

Sanders was spotted on an American Airlines flight to the steel city to stump for State Representative Summer Lee, running for an open seat in Pennsylvania's 18th District

Sanders was spotted on an American Airlines flight to the steel city to stump for State Representative Summer Lee, running for an open seat in Pennsylvania’s 18th District

Lee endorses far left policies like the Green New Deal, abolishing prisons , reversing the Hyde Amendment to allow for government-funded abortions and Sanders' signature Medicare For All government-run health care system

Lee endorses far left policies like the Green New Deal, abolishing prisons , reversing the Hyde Amendment to allow for government-funded abortions and Sanders’ signature Medicare For All government-run health care system

Lee’s main opponent in the race is former Pennsylvania Banking Commissioner Steve Irwin, who has the endorsement of the prior holder of the seat, Representative Mike Doyle. 

The 80-year-old Vermont senator’s property portfolio was mocked by fellow presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg during the 2020 primary debates, as he remarked: ‘The best known socialist in the country happens to be a millionaire with three houses. What did I miss?’ 

‘You missed that I work in Washington, house one,’ responded Sanders. ‘I live in Burlington, house two. And like thousands of other Vermonters, I do have a summer camp. Forgive me for that. Where is your home, which tax haven do you live in?’ 

Sanders has an estimated net worth of $2.5 million, around the median net worth of a member of the Senate, according to Business Insider.  

Although Sanders wants to put hefty taxes on the wealthy, his homes, which combined are worth close to $2 million according to Zillow, are far more than the working people he champions could ever afford.

He owns a main residence in Burlington, Vermont, a one bedroom pied-à-terre in Washington, D.C. that’s just a half-mile walk from the Capitol Building and he most recently plopped down $575,000 in cash for a lakefront cabin complete with a guest cottage in North Hero Island, Vermont in the summer of 2016. 

Purchased in 2009 for $405,000, Sanders' main home in Vermont (pictured) has four bedrooms and is now worth around $464,000 - which is 50 percent higher than the median listing price of other homes in the area

Purchased in 2009 for $405,000, Sanders’ main home in Vermont (pictured) has four bedrooms and is now worth around $464,000 – which is 50 percent higher than the median listing price of other homes in the area 

Sanders’ one-bedroom apartment in Washington D.C. is his most expensive residence and is estimated to be worth around $700,000

But it is Sanders' summer retreat that is threatening to become an issue that could haunt him in his second bid to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency. He most recently plopped down $575,000 in cash for a lakefront cabin in North Hero Island, Vermont in August of 2016

But it is Sanders’ summer retreat that is threatening to become an issue that could haunt him in his second bid to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency. He most recently plopped down $575,000 in cash for a lakefront cabin in North Hero Island, Vermont in August of 2016

Purchased in 2009 for $405,000, Sanders’ main home in Vermont has four bedrooms and is now worth around $464,000 – which is 50 percent higher than the median listing price of other homes in the area. 

Sanders’ one-bedroom apartment in the capital is his most expensive residence and is estimated to be worth around $700,000.  

But it was Sanders’ summer retreat that proved most controversial in his most recent bid to become president.

Although the 99-year-old wooden camp house on an island in the middle of Lake Champlain is nondescript compared to many of its neighbors, it’s the way Sanders and his second wife Jane bought the home that has ignited controversy.

They scooped up the property soon after Burlington College — where Jane was a former president — was forced to close due to debts. Students were so upset they held a mock funeral, carrying a coffin through the streets of Vermont’s largest town where Bernie first made a name for himself as a four-term mayor in the 1980s.

The alternative college’s money problems had begun when Jane was the driving force behind a deal to pay $10 million for a stretch of prime real estate in Burlington to give the college its first campus.

Although the 99-year-old wooden camp house on an island in the middle of Lake Champlain is nondescript compared to many of its neighbors, it's the way Sanders and his second wife Jane bought the home that has ignited controversy

Although the 99-year-old wooden camp house on an island in the middle of Lake Champlain is nondescript compared to many of its neighbors, it’s the way Sanders and his second wife Jane bought the home that has ignited controversy

They scooped up the property soon after Burlington College ¿ where Jane was a former president ¿ was forced to close due to debts. Students were so upset they held a mock funeral, carrying a coffin through the streets of Vermont's largest town where Bernie first made a name for himself as a four-term mayor in the 1980s

They scooped up the property soon after Burlington College — where Jane was a former president — was forced to close due to debts. Students were so upset they held a mock funeral, carrying a coffin through the streets of Vermont’s largest town where Bernie first made a name for himself as a four-term mayor in the 1980s

Bernie and Jane Sanders bought the lake house in cash two months after the college closed its doors for good, records show. It is listed in town records as being owned by 'Islands Trust,' with an address at the couple's home in Burlington. The couple say they paid for the home with the proceeds from the sale of her late parents' home in Maine. But records discovered by the VTDigger showed she had to split the money with two brothers and received only $150,000 for that house

Bernie and Jane Sanders bought the lake house in cash two months after the college closed its doors for good, records show. It is listed in town records as being owned by ‘Islands Trust,’ with an address at the couple’s home in Burlington. The couple say they paid for the home with the proceeds from the sale of her late parents’ home in Maine. But records discovered by the VTDigger showed she had to split the money with two brothers and received only $150,000 for that house

Just a year after that 2010 deal, she was axed by the college and received a $200,000 ‘golden parachute,’ according to The New York Times, which revived the controversy over the college in a front page story.

‘There is little question that the college’s 2016 demise can be traced to Ms. Sanders’s decision to champion an aggressive — critics say reckless — plan to buy the land,’ the Times reported.

Federal officials investigated the college’s finances, but no charges were ever filed.

Bernie and Jane bought the lake house in cash two months after the college closed its doors for good, records show. It is listed in town records as being owned by ‘Islands Trust,’ with an address at the couple’s home in Burlington.

The couple say they paid for the four-bedroom home with the proceeds from the sale of her late parents’ Long Lake home in Bridgton, Maine. 

But records discovered by VTDigger showed she had to split the money with two brothers and received only $150,000 for that house.

‘My family had a lake home in Maine since 1900, but we hadn’t had the time to go there in recent years — especially since my parents passed away,’ Jane told the Vermont website, Seven Days

‘We finally let go of it and that enabled us to buy a place in the islands — something I’ve always hoped for,’ she said.

Sanders has built his political reputation attacking 'millionaires and billionaires,' but has made a small fortune from his successful 2016 book Our Revolution. His Congressional financial disclosure released in May showed he was firmly in the nation's 1 percent, earning nearly $1.06 million in 2017 ¿ the second year in a row he had topped the million mark. More than 80 percent of his earnings came from his book. Pictured: Sanders' main home in Vermont

Sanders has built his political reputation attacking ‘millionaires and billionaires,’ but has made a small fortune from his successful 2016 book Our Revolution. His Congressional financial disclosure released in May showed he was firmly in the nation’s 1 percent, earning nearly $1.06 million in 2017 — the second year in a row he had topped the million mark. More than 80 percent of his earnings came from his book. Pictured: Sanders’ main home in Vermont 

When questioned about his seven-figure earnings during a CNN town hall in April he was unapologetic, saying: ‘I plead guilty to have written a book which was an international best-seller, OK? ‘When you write a book that makes it to the top of the New York Times best-seller list, you make money. And I made money.’ Pictured: Sanders’ D.C. apartment

Sanders has built his political reputation attacking ‘millionaires and billionaires,’ but has made a small fortune from his successful 2016 book Our Revolution.

He has frequently topped $1million in earnings largely off sales from his book.

To join the top 1 percent, a person has to earn around $390,000.

When questioned about his seven-figure earnings during a CNN town hall in 2019 he was unapologetic, saying: ‘I plead guilty to have written a book which was an international best-seller, OK?

‘When you write a book that makes it to the top of the New York Times best-seller list, you make money. And I made money.

‘I suspect that in a couple of years my salary will go back to $173,000, which is what a member of Congress gets,’ he added.

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