News / Politics

Billionaires may win US presidential election: Senator Sanders

Tuesday, 10 February 2015 9:23 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 10 February 2015 9:24 AM ]

Sen. Bernie Sanders

US Independent Senator Bernie Sanders says he is considering running for president in 2016, although billionaires have better chances to win the presidential election in the United States.

During a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Monday, the Vermont independent said he would "run to win" if he gets in the presidential race.

Sanders blasted the amount of resources he would need to mount a serious campaign for the White House.

He suggested that he would not have enough money if he raised $100 from two million people – for a total of $200 million.

"That is 20 percent of what the Koch brothers themselves are prepared to spend. Can you take that on? I don't know the answer. Maybe the game is over. Maybe they have bought the United States government. Maybe there is no turning back. Maybe we've gone over the edge. I don't know. I surely hope not. But we have to look at that reality," he said.

The senator was referring to David and Charles Koch, who are the libertarian billionaires known as the Koch brothers.

The Koch brothers have earmarked about $900 million of their personal fortune for the 2016 race, on behalf of one or more Republican candidates.

Sanders said the average contribution to his last Senate campaign was $45.

"The gut feeling … that I'm going to have to reach is whether there is that willingness to stand up and fight back. And if there's not, I don't want to run a futile campaign," he said.

Running as a Democrat, Sanders would probably face former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the primaries. If the senator ran as an independent, he would need support from each state and US territory to qualify for ballots across the country.

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