July 11th 2019

By Jake Johnson

Common Dreams

Asking the American public to judge his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign by both its supporters and its powerful enemies, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday unveiled an "anti-endorsement" list consisting of prominent billionaires, Wall Street bankers, and corporate CEOs who have attacked his candidacy and policies.

"You can tell who is truly fighting for working families by the enemies they make, and we've made a lot of enemies," Sanders said in a statement. "We understand that nothing will fundamentally change for working Americans unless we have the guts to take on the most powerful corporate interests in this country."

"Therefore it should come as no surprise that corporate CEOs and billionaires have united against our movement," Sanders added. "These people have a vested interest in preserving the status quo so they can keep their grip on power so they can continue to exploit working people across America. We welcome their hatred."

The Sanders campaign lists the Vermont senator's anti-endorsements on a new webpage. The page includes billionaire Democratic mega-donor Haim Saban, who attacked Sanders as a "disaster zone" in an interview published Wednesday.

The rest of the list consists of:

• Billionaire Home Depot co-founder Kenneth Langone;

• Former CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder;

• Former Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam;

• JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon;

• Disney CEO Bob Iger;

• Former General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt;

• Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein;

• Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan;

• Centrist think-tank Third Way;

• Former Goldman Sachs partner Leon Cooperman;

• Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus; and

• Billionaire hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller.

"As we fight for an agenda that guarantees basic human rights for all Americans, we will be opposed by the most powerful forces in America," Sanders wrote on his website. "I am proud to announce the modern-day oligarchs who oppose our movement. In the words of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt: 'They are unanimous in their hate for me–and I welcome their hatred.'"

"We will overcome their greed," said Sanders, "and create an economy and a government that works for all, not just the one percent.

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