Bernie Sanders blasts 'the Musks and the Zuckerbergs' at Cork trade union meeting

Firebrand US senator takes aim at 'oligarchs' during Cork visit which will also include pilgrimage to honour Mother Jones

US senator for Vermont Bernie Sanders used his keynote speech in Cork to urge working people to come together and work 'aggressively' against oligarchs. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Bernie Sanders has urged ordinary people to come together and work “aggressively” against the oligarchs who are moving very fast and do not “believe in the concept of government."

In a keynote speech on Monday evening at Siptu’s Connolly Hall in Cork City, the 83-year-old US senator from Vermont addressed “the rapid growth of oligarchy” which he said was “one of the great crises we face”. 

It was Mr Sanders' first visit to Cork City and the latest in a series of visits across the country meeting with trade union members and community activists.

Mr Sanders also met President Michael D Higgins. 

Cork City's Lord Mayor Dan Boyle accompanies Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane O’Meara Sanders on the walk from City Hall to Connolly Hall where the US senator addressed the Cork Council of Trade Unions meeting. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

“If anyone thinks the growth of oligarchy is an American issue and not an Irish or European issue, you are very, very mistaken,” Mr Sanders said.

“No one disputes, least of all Trump, that in America right now, it’s no big secret, we have a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires,” the US senator said.

“[These guys] are not nice guys, and some people will think that I am engaged in hyperbole here, but I am not.

Musician Ricky Lynch shares a lighter moment with Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane O’Meara Sanders after the US senator addressed the Cork Council of Trade Unions at Connolly Hall. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Mr Sanders added: “In America right now, we've got Mr Musk alone, and I want you to hear this: 

One man owns more wealth than the bottom 52% of American households. Yet, for these guys, that is not enough. 

He added that what is new with these “oligarchs” in their beliefs is that they “believe they have the divine right to rule".  

Elon Musk, centre, attending a meeting of US president Donald Trump's cabinet at the White House on April 30. Picture: Evan Vucci/AP

The US senator compared the “Musks and Zuckerbergs” to kings and tsars in 19th-century Europe who were “able to do terrible, terrible things". 

“[They were able to have] incredible wealth for themselves while their people lived in terrible, terrible, horrendous conditions. That is because god gave them the right to rule,” Mr Sanders said.

“Well, these guys, the Musks and the Zuckerbergs are not particularly religious, but they also believe because of their intelligence — these are smart guys — because of their wealth, because of their entrepreneurial capabilities, which are extraordinary, they also have the right to rule,” he added.

Cork Council of Trade Unions president Anne Taylor with US senator Bernie Sanders at Connolly Hall on Monday. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Mr Sanders also claimed that these men were not coming to the US Congress to “simply ask for tax breaks, [...] they do not believe in the concept of government.” 

“Their view is 'how dare you to tell me how I can run my business',” he said.

He added that “these guys” do not believe control should be put on them in terms of environmental regulations: "‘If I want to destroy the planet, that is my right and I will do it.’” 

Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane O’Meara Sanders enjoying the craic with Cork poets and musicians after the US senator addressed the Cork Council of Trade Unions at Connolly Hall. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

“The challenge we face right now, these guys are very very smart, they are extraordinarily wealthy, they are extraordinarily greedy in the sense that they want more and more and they are moving very very aggressively,” he added.

Mr Sanders also expressed concern that the US Democratic party and European social democratic parties “haven’t got a clue” and are “50 years behind the times". 

US senator Bernie Sanders addressing the Cork Council of Trade Unions meeting at Connolly Hall on Monday. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

“These guys are moving like a Blitzkrieg, when the social democratic parties were thinking about how to operate 50 years ago,” Mr Sanders added.

The reception event on Monday saw speakers including Lord Mayor of Cork City, Dan Boyle, Siptu divisional organiser Adrian Kane, and performances from poet Fionnuala O’Connell, and writer Cónal Creedon.

President Michael D Higgins greeting Bernie Sanders at Áras an Uachtaráin earlier on Monday during the US senator for Vermont's visit to Ireland. Picture: Maxwell’s

Both Senator Sanders and Jane O’Meara Sanders also received awards as lifelong members of the Cork Council of Trade Unions. 

The pair are set to visit the plaque commemorating Mother Jones in Shandon on Tuesday.