--- description: Bernie Sanders is not happy that former President Barack Obama has accepted $400,000 from Wall Street for a speech title: Bernie Sanders Calls Barack Obama's $400,000 Wall Street Speech 'Distasteful' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d1b1247899ea75c/6988cb340b72e343ff6ed944/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bernie Sanders Calls Barack Obama's $400,000 Wall Street Speech 'Distasteful' by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 28, 2017 8:41 PM CUT  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](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 28, 2017 8:41 PM CUT 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined"). 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and DNC Chairman Tom Perez Hold Rally In Salt Lake City, Utah","caption":"Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and DNC Chairman Tom Perez Hold Rally In Salt Lake City, Utah","creditText":"George Frey—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4760188/bernie-sanders-barack-obama-wall-street-speech/","name":"Bernie Sanders Calls Barack Obama's $400,000 Wall Street Speech 'Distasteful'"}}]}] ```