--- title: Bernie Sanders On Why His Campaign Didn't Use Public Funding description: Bernie Sanders explained at the fifth Democratic debate Thursday why he did not use public funding for his campaign. canonical: https://time.com/4208933/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-public-funding-campaign/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-05T03:00:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:47:32.848Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's Why Bernie Sanders Didn't Use Public Funding for His Campaign og:description: "Why aren't you walking the walk on that?" MSNBC's moderator asked og:url: https://time.com/4208933/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-public-funding-campaign/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3e6749831158b3b/69887c3ccf40a82118c41d23/timepol-democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Democratic Presidential Candidates Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders Debate In Durham, New Hampshire og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Why Bernie Sanders Didn't Use Public Funding for His Campaign twitter:description: "Why aren't you walking the walk on that?" MSNBC's moderator asked twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3e6749831158b3b/69887c3ccf40a82118c41d23/timepol-democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Why Bernie Sanders Didn't Use Public Funding for His Campaign > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 5, 2016 3:00 AM UTC  Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a Democratic debate with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the University of New Hampshire on Feb. 4, 2016 in Durham, N.H. Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a Democratic debate with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the University of New Hampshire on Feb. 4, 2016 in Durham, N.H. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 5, 2016 3:00 AM UTC [Bernie Sanders](http://time.com/4201376/bernie-sanders-history/) explained at the [fifth Democratic debate Thursday ](http://time.com/4208461/democratic-debate-progressive-liberal-moderate/)why he did not use public funding for [his campaign](http://time.com/4198860/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-campaign-ad-wall-street/). MSNBC moderator Chuck Todd pressed the Vermont Senator on why, if he’s so in favor of public programs and against Super PACs, he didn’t opt to apply for public funding for his campaign. “Why aren’t you walking the walk on that?” Todd asked, saying the public funding legislation was designed, essentially, to take big money out of elections in the way Sanders says he wants. “Actually, we looked at it,” Sanders said. “But it turns out to be a disaster. The way it is structured right now, if you make it all the way to California you can do pretty well. But in terms of the early states, Iowa, New Hampshire, the other states, it just doesn’t work.” “But your point is well taken,” he continued. “I believe in public funding of elections, absolutely. But this system is, I don’t know if the Secretary would agree, is currently very antiquated and no longer applies to modern-day politics.” Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton nodded along with Sanders’ answer, a moment of agreement between them in an otherwise contentious debate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4208933/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-public-funding-campaign/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4208933/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-public-funding-campaign/"},"headline":"Here's Why Bernie Sanders Didn't Use Public Funding for His Campaign","datePublished":"2016-02-05T03:00:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:47:32.848Z","description":"\"Why aren't you walking the walk on that?\" MSNBC's moderator asked","url":"https://time.com/4208933/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-public-funding-campaign/","keywords":["Bernie Sanders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3e6749831158b3b/69887c3ccf40a82118c41d23/timepol-democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3e6749831158b3b/69887c3ccf40a82118c41d23/timepol-democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic Presidential Candidates Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders Debate In Durham, New Hampshire","caption":"Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. 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