--- title: Bernie Sanders: Barack Obama's $400K Speech Is Distasteful description: Bernie Sanders is not happy that former President Barack Obama has accepted $400,000 from Wall Street for a speech canonical: https://time.com/4760188/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street-speech/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-28T20:41:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:39:59.560Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bernie Sanders Calls Barack Obama's $400,000 Wall Street Speech 'Distasteful' og:description: "I just think it does not look good" og:url: https://time.com/4760188/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d1b1247899ea75c/6988cb340b72e343ff6ed944/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and DNC Chairman Tom Perez Hold Rally In Salt Lake City, Utah og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bernie Sanders Calls Barack Obama's $400,000 Wall Street Speech 'Distasteful' twitter:description: "I just think it does not look good" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d1b1247899ea75c/6988cb340b72e343ff6ed944/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bernie Sanders Calls Barack Obama's $400,000 Wall Street Speech 'Distasteful' > 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. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. 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 [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 28, 2017 8:41 PM UTC  Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) speaks to a crowd of supporters at a Democratic unity rally at the Rail Event Center on April 21, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) speaks to a crowd of supporters at a Democratic unity rally at the Rail Event Center on April 21, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. George Frey—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 28, 2017 8:41 PM UTC Bernie Sanders is not too happy that former President Barack Obama has [accepted $400,000](http://fortune.com/2017/04/26/barack-obama-eric-schultz-wall-street-speech/) to speak at a conference sponsored by a Wall Street investment bank. “I just think it does not look good,” Sanders [told](http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/28/politics/bernie-sanders-obama-wall-street-speech/) CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux, joining several people who have criticized Obama for taking the money. “I just think it is distasteful — not a good idea that he did that.” Sanders frequently railed against Hillary Clinton for accepting money for giving speeches to Wall Street banks while he campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination last year. His comments about Obama echoed Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who said on Thursday that she was [“troubled” by the former president’s decision](http://fortune.com/2017/04/27/elizabeth-warren-barack-obama-wall-street-speech/). Sanders also aired his disapproval of Obama’s decision in an [interview](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-blasts-trumps-hypocrisy-on-promises-to-help-working-class/) with CBS’s _This Morning_. “I think at a time when people are so frustrated with the power of Wall Street and the big-money interests, I think it is unfortunate that President Obama is doing this,” he said. “Wall Street has incredible power, and I would have hoped that the president would not have given a speech like this.” Obama’s spokesperson Eric Schultz defended the former president’s speaking fee on Wednesday, saying he [implemented tough reforms](http://fortune.com/2017/04/26/barack-obama-eric-schultz-wall-street-speech/) on Wall Street during his presidency. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4760188/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4760188/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street-speech/"},"headline":"Bernie Sanders Calls Barack Obama's $400,000 Wall Street Speech 'Distasteful'","datePublished":"2017-04-28T20:41:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:39:59.560Z","description":"\"I just think it does not look good\"","url":"https://time.com/4760188/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street-speech/","keywords":["Barack Obama","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d1b1247899ea75c/6988cb340b72e343ff6ed944/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d1b1247899ea75c/6988cb340b72e343ff6ed944/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sen. 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