--- 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/ copyright: © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. terms: https://legal.time.com/terms-of-service/ license_contact: syndication@time.com author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-28T20:41:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:48:04.746Z 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: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7bf0af65-eba8-4d15-84ef-7bd0dc4606df&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Bernie Sanders Calls Barack Obama's $400,000 Wall Street Speech 'Distasteful' [Watch (HLS stream): Bernie Sanders Calls Barack Obama's $400,000 Wall Street Speech 'Distasteful'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fVF0tQtj.m3u8) (0:31)  _Published 2017-04-28. Bernie Sanders is not too happy that former President Barack Obama has accepted $400,000 to speak at a conference sponsored by a Wall Street investment bank._ 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 to speak at a conference sponsored by a Wall Street investment bank. 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. ## Transcript Look, Barack Obama is a friend of mine and I think he and his family represented us for eight years with dignity and intelligence. But I think at a time when we have so much income and wealth inequality, when Wall Street has so much power, the chief economic advisor to the President comes from Goldman Sachs I think it just not look good. It's not a good idea. And you know I'm sorry to the person that President Obama made that choice. ```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":"2026-10-08T08:48:04.746Z","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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