Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is not letting President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate get in the way of his campaigning ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
Sanders, one of the 2020 Democratic front-runners, is chartering at least one private jet for the duration of the trial to take him to and from Iowa without the delays incurred from flying commercial.
Sanders should have more than enough dough to afford the luxurious method of transportation — he raised $34.5 million in the final quarter of 2019 and brought in $96 million over the course of the entire year.
Despite this, his campaign has declined to comment to multiple news outlets, including The Post, about his jet use.
The campaign feels uncomfortable disclosing the Vermont senator’s use of a private jet to the media, mostly due to fears of the optics of a far-left populist being seen using such an exclusive form of travel, people close to Sanders’ team tell the Washington Examiner.
Earlier this month, however, Sanders confirmed in an interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” that he would be using a private jet to be able to campaign during the impeachment trial.
Sanders campaign adviser Jeff Weaver defended the private jet use to NBC News, saying, “They’re not going to be meeting at night [for the trial], so we can obviously fly from DC to states and hold events in the evening and fly back, you know, so he can be back in the morning to do his work in the Senate.”
“He’s an energetic candidate. He has a very vigorous schedule, and, you know, he can do that,” Weaver added.
A spokesperson for Sanders’ campaign did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The campaigns of two of Sanders’ rivals, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), also did not respond to questions from The Post on how they planned to travel during the impeachment trial.