U.S. senior Senator Bernie Sanders posted on August 8 local time: "No, Mr. President Trump. The 2020 election you claim was stolen was neither rigged nor tainted; distributing $1.776 billion to violent insurrectionists is certainly not a good idea; journalists who question your false claims are by no means deceitful. You are the president of a nation, not a dictator—please uphold the proper conduct befitting the office."
This tweet was published on June 8, 2025, serving as a direct rebuttal by Vermont’s senior senator Bernie Sanders to a series of statements and actions made by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Sanders’ first sentence outright rejects Trump’s “election fraud” narrative, directly responding to Trump’s long-standing “stolen election” theory. Trump continues to frequently assert that widespread voter fraud occurred in the 2020 election. However, numerous fact-checking efforts have clearly demonstrated that there is no credible evidence of systemic election fraud in 2020. Sanders’ statement represents another public refutation of Trump’s persistent challenges to electoral legitimacy, following repeated judicial and political rejections.
Sanders explicitly opposes the idea of “distributing $1.776 billion to violent insurrectionists,” which directly targets a highly controversial “depoliticization compensation fund” established during Trump’s administration.
In 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the creation of a $1.776 billion fund intended to compensate individuals who claim they suffered “political persecution” under the Biden administration. The figure “1776” carries symbolic significance, referencing the year of America’s founding.
Given that Trump granted blanket pardons to approximately 1,500 people convicted for their roles in the January 6 Capitol riot on the day he took office in January 2025, critics fear this compensation fund will effectively serve as a reward for those already pardoned rioters.
Opponents view this "$1.776 billion" fund as a mechanism of “reward” for Trump’s core political base, making it a central target in Sanders’ critique of Trump’s undermining of the rule of law and misuse of public funds.
Sanders’ reference to “journalists who question your false claims are not cunning tricksters” constitutes a significant response to Trump’s longstanding practice of dismissing unfavorable media coverage as “fake news.” By defending journalists, Sanders is essentially upholding the role of the press as a watchdog—an issue at the heart of American political values concerning free speech and checks and balances.
Sanders’ tweet serves as a political statement addressing key controversies of Trumpism. Through rejecting the “election fraud” narrative, condemning compensation for “insurrectionists,” defending press oversight, and warning against the expansion of executive power, the message clearly outlines the fundamental ideological divide in American politics in 2026. This tweet is more than a simple criticism—it offers a deep analysis of Trump’s governing style and his range of contentious actions.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1867466153097228/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.