Behind Sanders and AOC’s Oligarchy Crusade: Billionaires Pull the Strings

Sanders and AOC’s paradox of an oligarchy crusade powered by the 1%’s money.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

~ God in the Dock, C.S. Lewis

For the last ten years, we’ve been drowning in the words 'dictator,' 'fascist,' and 'threat to democracy,' parroted by Democrats like a nationwide game of Telephone on Xanax. The legacy media amplified these cries, droning on about the 'end of democracy' like a swarm of buzzing drones across the United States.

These terms, though distinct, share a common thread, rolling effortlessly off the tongues of Democrats, progressives, leftists, and neo-cons for years. Yet weirdly enough, the end that they warned us of never came, and the American voter became tired, and the "warnings" became noise.

By late 2024, the Harris campaign dropped its veiled warnings about a Trump presidency (like 'dictator on day one') and opted to 'speak their truth,' banking on enough Americans buying it to tip the election her way. Trump was no longer going to be just a dictator on day one; now, he was essentially the incarnation of Hitler, not to mention repeating false claims about Trump’s past statements. (Read those here)

Harris stepped out from the Naval Observatory, took the podium with the vice presidential seal, and warned America of Trump’s supposed Hitler admiration. Her evidence? Reports from The New York Times and The Atlantic - penned by Jeffrey Goldberg (IYKYK) - citing John Kelly, Trump’s ex-chief of staff with a bitter 2019 exit and a clear axe to grind. Kelly claimed Trump praised Hitler and envied his generals (conveniently timed just weeks before the election) but his story didn’t hold up under scrutiny. Key players from Trump’s orbit, like Kash Patel and Nick Ayers, former chief of staff to Mike Pence, flat-out debunked it, insisting they never heard such remarks, while even a spokesman for Mark Meadows called it nonsense. Trump himself dismissed Kelly as a bitter "degenerate" spinning tales out of spite, and the whole thing reeked of a last-ditch Harris campaign Hail Mary.

Just three months later, Obama attended Jimmy Carter's funeral (without Michelle Obama) and was seen joking and laughing with the "Hitlerian" Trump after his presidential win.

All that energy wailing about dictatorship, fascism, authoritarianism, democracy’s doom, and finally, Hitler? Wasted, capped by a crushing defeat. The country as a whole shifted significantly right. Even Democrat strongholds like California, New York, and Illinois shifted right, up to 9 points. Trump won every swing state, and for the first time since George W. Bush in 2004, a Republican presidential candidate won the popular vote.

Since the election, the Democratic party has been wandering without a leader or agenda, though they excel at gathering around a cause or finding unity in something or someone they hate. Their decade-long campaign against Trump has failed. While they still hate him, they recognize that Americans are fatigued with the droning cries of "threat to our democracy" and have moved on to a new boogeyman: billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, their poster child for the "oligarchy."

Here's the deal, though: Democrats remain united in their disdain for Trump, which now extends to Elon Musk. The fracturing of the Democratic party has resulted in different terminology, but the meaning remains the same. While establishment Democrats have long warned of the threat of "millionaires and billionaires," the progressive wing has rebranded that threat as "fight oligarchy."

The message is unchanged: too much power in the hands of the wealthy few whose only goal is to enrich themselves at the cost of the worker.

These warnings of a rising oligarchy might seem new, but they echo former President Joe Biden's parting words in his farewell address: "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy."

The irony is the level of hypocrisy in these cries of "oligarchy." Imagine a politician promising to fight for you while cashing checks from the very elites they claim to oppose. Now stop imagining—that's the Democratic Party today.

Take Kamala Harris during her failed 2024 presidential run. In her 2024 tax plan, she vowed to implement a wealth tax on billionaires, declaring, "It's time for the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share." Yet behind the scenes, her campaign benefited from Future Forward, a super PAC that raised $559 million, with leaked reports suggesting billionaires Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg each quietly contributed $50 million through dark money channels. The same billionaires she promised to tax were bankrolling her campaign.

Or consider Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who thundered that "making the wealthy pay their fair share" would be a priority if Democrats were to win in the 2024 election, advocating for higher taxes to fund infrastructure and education. Yet his leadership PAC, Impact, has collected over $19 million from the securities and investment industry over his career. In the 2023-2024 cycle alone, he received an estimated $500,000 from hedge fund managers and Wall Street executives—the very "top 1%" he claims should pay more. One hand extends for their checks while the other wags a finger at their wealth.

This hypocrisy isn't just glaring; it's a full-blown betrayal of the working-class base they claim to champion. While Bernie Sanders and AOC may shun direct billionaire contributions, their progressive movement thrives on an ecosystem bankrolled by the ultra-rich. For voters who've built lives on grit rather than handouts, this disconnect goes beyond politics, it's a gut-level breach of trust that explains why Democratic favorability has plummeted to a historical low of 29%.

The timing couldn't be more revealing. Trump's 2024 victory, driven by 54% of voters prioritizing economic stability over progressive promises, exposed this disconnect. As his administration now pushes deregulation, Democrats continue opposing these measures with talking points crafted in think tanks funded by the very billionaires they publicly denounce.

This paradox shapes policies that directly hurt your daily life. Democratic support for complex regulations (influenced by elite donors) creates barriers that benefit large corporations while crushing small businesses. For small business owners, this means spending an average of $12,000 annually on regulatory compliance costs that giant companies easily absorb. It means hiring expensive accountants to navigate tax codes designed by and for the wealthy. And it means watching opportunities shrink as established players protect their turf through the politicians they fund.

The Establishment's Billionaire Bedfellows

The Democratic establishment doesn’t just flirt with elite cash, it’s been in a committed, decade-long romance. Their anti-wealth sermons sound like a broken record when you peek at the receipts. Biden’s 2020 campaign hauled in over $1 billion, with megadonors like Dustin Moskovitz ($24.9M) and James Simons ($11M) leading the charge (OpenSecrets). Harris’s 2024 run escalated to $1.8 billion, including Bloomberg’s $50 million after months of pressure. Yet Democratic leaders like Chuck Schumer keep preaching about wealth inequality from Senate chambers that might as well double as a Forbes 400 VIP lounge.

Don’t get it twisted, though, Republicans aren’t exactly scraping by on bake sale funds either. Billionaires like Elon Musk were breakdancing in the spotlight for Trump, his X megaphone and deep pockets front and center during the 2024 circus. Peter Thiel and the Koch crew weren’t coy either, waving their checkbooks like VIP passes. The difference? They’re not choking back tears about "oligarchy" while cashing in, unlike the Democrats, who play Robin Hood by day and bunk with Sherwood’s richest by night.

Sanders and AOC: Small Donors, Big Ecosystem

Enter Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive duo currently drawing record crowds on their "Fighting Oligarchy" tour. Their Denver rally alone packed in 34,000 attendees, all eager to hear the small-donor champions take on the billionaire class.

The contrast with the establishment is stark. Friends of Bernie Sanders raised $8.2 million in 2023-2024, with 88% coming from contributions under $200 (FEC). AOC's 2022 campaign showed similar grassroots credentials, with 74% from small donors.

It's a compelling narrative: while the DNC courts corporate America, Sanders and AOC represent the authentic voice of everyday Americans. But here's the catch, their progressive purity is largely an illusion.

The Billionaire-Funded Megaphone

Dig beneath the surface, and you'll find the organizations amplifying progressive messaging are awash in billionaire cash.

The Center for American Progress (CAP), a key Democratic think tank, received over $1 million from George Soros's Open Society Foundations in 2023. But this isn't just passive funding, it's the lifeblood of progressive policy development. CAP's research directly shapes Sanders and AOC's platforms despite their anti-billionaire rhetoric. Their endorsement of the Raise the Wage Act provided the intellectual foundation for Sanders' push to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025. When AOC introduced her Green New Deal resolution, CAP leadership, including John Podesta and Neera Tanden, quickly praised it, while their "100 Percent Clean Future" report mirrored its ambitious goals. The pipeline is clear: billionaire-funded research becomes progressive talking points, all while maintaining the illusion of grassroots purity.

Future Forward, a major Democratic super PAC, raised $559 million in 2024, with $136.4 million flowing from its dark money arm. Leaked reports suggest Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg each contributed $50 million to this operation. In 2022, Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC bankrolled by billionaires like George Soros (who dropped $10 million that cycle) spent over $13.5 million to prop up progressive champion John Fetterman in his Pennsylvania Senate race, while pouring $28.3 million to bury his Republican rival, Mehmet Oz.

Additionally, Future Forward partnered with Climate Power and others on a $20 million ad campaign in 2023 touting the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy jobs and healthcare cost cuts. These aren't just ads; they're billionaire-funded megaphones amplifying the very policies Sanders and AOC champion while railing against oligarchs.

Even Our Revolution, Sanders' own organization, isn't immune from billionaire influence. In 2017, it accepted $100,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a dark money group. In 2018 alone, it took in nearly $87 million from undisclosed big donations. The Sixteen Thirty Fund's tentacles extend throughout the progressive ecosystem—funding groups like the League of Conservation Voters, which endorsed AOC in 2018 and gave Sanders near-perfect environmental scores, and Americans for Tax Fairness, which backed Sanders' Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act. This creates a web of billionaire influence, with the Fund serving as a convenient buffer, maintaining plausible deniability for progressives who benefit from these resources.

This network isn't peripheral, it forms the core infrastructure of the progressive movement. While Sanders publicly criticized CAP in 2019 for "smearing progressive candidates," the reality remains that his movement depends on the ecosystem it funds. The messaging machine that powers the "Fighting Oligarchy" tour, from policy development to ad buys to grassroots mobilization, is quietly bankrolled by the very billionaires Sanders and AOC claim to oppose. Their small-donor image remains intact, but their message amplifies on elite wealth channeled through a complex web of organizations designed to obscure the source.

It's a masterclass in political misdirection: rage against billionaires on stages funded by their dollars, critique wealth inequality with talking points developed in their think tanks, and rally against corporate power with coalitions built with their resources. No wonder your average American feels the disconnection. The progressive revolution against oligarchy is being televised, promoted, and distributed by the oligarchs themselves.

Betrayal of the Little Guy

This duplicity cuts deep for families juggling bills and tough choices. Democrats swear they’re battling the billionaire class for us, yet those same billionaires own the stage, script, and spotlight. It’s not just a political game, it’s a gut punch to the little guy they claim to champion, and the hypocrisy’s so thick you could choke on it.

The emotional disconnect explains why Democratic favorability has cratered to 29% in a CNN news poll. This isn’t just about policy, it’s about trust, shredded by a party preaching “for the people” while pocketing elite checks. A 2023 Pew survey found 72% of Americans want limits on campaign spending, and that frustration echoes across X, where posts like @amaryllisfox nail it: "Watching corporate fat cat JB Pritzker take the stage at the Democratic Convention to brag that he’s the ‘real billionaire,’ right after Bernie Sanders pointed out the corrosive impact of money in politics, was the chef’s kiss of DNC hypocrisy." Voters aren’t blind, they see a party talking populism while banking like plutocrats, and it stinks.

Take Maher Youssef, a Seattle café owner who, in 2024, saw inflation under Biden double his costs (eggs up 52%, gas and food soaring) while working 12-hour days. "I’m ashamed he’s my president… that’s the wrong guy," he said, his trust in Democrats shredded. That sting hits women like Penelope Valdespino from San Antonio too, whose extra $3 an hour got swallowed by rising prices, leaving her muttering, "Not the ideal arrangement." Even progressives like AOC and Sanders, railing against billionaires from stages built on their cash, share responsibility for that fallout.

The working class feels it most (50% under $35,000 can’t pay bills, 80% stressed by prices) while suburban women shift right, with 36% citing inflation as their top issue in 2024. It’s a betrayal that burns, Democrats, including Sanders and AOC, preaching fairness from a billionaire-funded stage, leaving the little guy they claim to champion drowning in their hypocrisy.

Ripple Effects: AOC's Future and Midterm Shadows

This funding hypocrisy creates fascinating dynamics for future political battles. If Trump's economy falters (GDP currently 2.8%, per BEA), AOC's small donor base and party-values popularity (10% lead in CNN 2025 polling) could position her for a 2028 run. Her youth (35), vibrancy, and social media prowess (2.1 million X followers outpacing Harris's 1.4 million) give her built-in advantages with younger voters.

However, she carries a meager 42% popularity rating, largely due to her progressive agenda. Medicare for All and Green New Deal policies poll poorly with moderates, with only 43% of Americans supporting single-payer healthcare. Her stances on defunding police opposed by 56% and aggressive climate regulations particularly alarm suburban women voters who swung to Trump in 2024.

The 2026 midterms will serve as a crucial proving ground. Sanders-AOC endorsements, amplified by Our Revolution's 57,000 activists, will target vulnerable Republican districts like TX-15, PA-07, and MI-10 where economic messaging might resonate if inflation rises under Trump. In 2018, Sanders-backed progressives flipped 7 House seats, and a repeat performance would boost AOC's influence, while potentially alienating moderate voters.

What makes this scenario particularly ironic is that even as Sanders and AOC rail against billionaires, their success depends on the same ecosystem. The Sixteen Thirty Fund, linked to Soros, supports progressive groups like the League of Conservation Voters, which endorsed AOC in 2018. Future Forward USA, backed by Reid Hoffman and receiving reported $50 million contributions from Gates and Bloomberg, has budgeted $200 million for Democratic candidates. These "dark money" groups will continue bankrolling the infrastructure that gives progressive voices their reach, creating a clear contradiction between the anti-oligarch message and its billionaire-funded megaphone.

If Trump's economic policies succeed, keeping GDP above 2.5% and inflation in check, AOC's path becomes steeper. She would need to pivot toward economic pragmatism without alienating her base, a difficult balancing act that may leave many to watch with skepticism. However, if economic indicators worsen by 2026, her "tax the rich" messaging could gain traction, especially in manufacturing-heavy districts like those in Pennsylvania and Michigan, where economic anxiety runs high.

For Americans who value fiscal responsibility and economic opportunity this paradox exposes the fundamental contradiction at the heart of progressive politics: claiming to fight for the little guy while depending on billionaire belevonence. It's why they'll continue viewing AOC's rising star with both fascination and alarm, knowing the oligarchs she rails against are helping to amplify her voice.

Conclusion

The Democrats' oligarchy paradox cuts across both establishment and progressive wings, neither can escape their dependence on billionaire influence, despite their rhetorical differences. This betrayal of principle explains their historic trust deficit and should concern anyone who values political authenticity.

As we approach the 2026 midterms and look toward 2028, watch the money trail. It will reveal who's really calling the shots, regardless of the populist packaging. The billionaires may stay behind the curtain, but make no mistake - they own the megaphone.

They say they're fighting for you, but the oligarchs bankroll the resistance. In politics, as in life, actions speak louder than words. And the action, in this case, is cashing the check.