‘These are the scariest times in my life’: Bernie Sanders gives voice to country-wide fears as Musk’s power grows

Bernie Sanders has issued a stern warning amid the second administration of Donald Trump, with the Democratic politician admitting that “these are the scariest times in my life.” Sanders took aim at the president during a wide-ranging discussion on a recent episode of the podcast, Pod Save America.

Among his key gripes was Elon Musk, whose growing power as a special government employee and leader of cost-cutting agency DOGE he says spells “oligarchy” and a “movement toward authoritarianism”. “It is not just that they want to give tax breaks to billionaires and cut programs for working people,” the former presidential candidate said, before listing off what he sees as the biggest signs of impending authoritarianism.

“These are the scariest times in my lifetime.” -Bernie Sanders pic.twitter.com/PUOAVPQU7t

— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) March 12, 2025

He cited Musk’s ownership of X, which allows him to “send out his messages to hundreds of millions of people,” as well as the sweeping changes made to The Washington Post at the behest of owner and fellow billionaire, Jeff Bezos. “You combine that with the fact that people like Bezos, the second-wealthiest person in the country, fired or got rid of most of his editorial staff and are turning it into a right-wing thing,” he said. These forces, according to Sanders, are only amplified by Trump’s consistent attacks on the free press. 

“Trump is suing major media outlets and is threatening to investigate PBS and NPR,” he said, adding that the combination of Musk, Bezos and Trump’s manoeuvres presents a “movement toward authoritarianism” that is about “not only the power of money.” Other hallmarks of the administration’s move away from democracy, according to Sanders, include Trump’s federal funding freezes and his attempts to shut down entire government agencies without permission from Congress. 

Bernie Sanders says Republicans in Congress have to choose between Elon Musk and their own constituents. pic.twitter.com/gUUExVh2ni

— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) March 12, 2025

“When Trump unilaterally cuts federal funding that Congress passed, that is illegal, that is unconstitutional,” he said. Sanders, who has made no secret of his opposition to the current administration, went on to mention Vice President JD Vance, particularly calling out his claim that the courts don’t have the right to stop unconstitutional presidential acts. “Man, that is authoritarianism,” Sanders said. “He is now trying to end what the Founding Fathers [were] pretty smart about — creating a form of government where there were checks and balances.” 

Summing up all of our collective thoughts succinctly, Sanders concluded that “this is a scary moment,” but hopefully not scary enough to prevent him from his continuous efforts to hold the administration to account. In the past few months alone, Sanders has joined Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in slamming Trump’s illegal loan grant suspension, criticized DOGE’s attempts to dismantle USAID at the behest of Musk, and declared that we’ve officially entered an oligarchy in the wake of Trump’s recent address to Congress. 

This is what Oligarch ownership of the media looks like:

The second-richest guy in the world, Bezos, owns The Washington Post. He has now declared that the editorial page of that paper is going Trump right-wing.

Surprise, Mr. Musk agrees. We must support independent media.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 26, 2025

Before that, Sanders got into with Musk on at least two separate occasions, from trading barbs with the pre-political billionaire over the price of Insulin in 2022 to sparring over tax cuts for billionaires in a social media feud the year prior. I’d say Musk should start putting on his boxing gloves, but since Sanders is his opponent, he’s probably better off with mittens.