Bernie Sanders’s hotel rooms had to have king-size beds, temperature set to 60 degrees: Book
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is allegedly a demanding hotel guest whose requests would rival those made by pampered celebrities in Hollywood, a book detailing the internal politics of the Democratic Party has claimed.
Author Edward-Isaac Dovere wrote in his book 'Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats’ Campaigns to Defeat Trump' how Sanders' strong 2016 presidential run reportedly inspired his staffers to put together a "Senator Comfort Memo." It detailed the democratic socialist's specifications for hotel stays during his travels, Fox News reported.
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Sanders preferred suites, bathtubs, and a king-size bed “which had to have a down comforter or another blanket in the closet. He preferred that the extra blanket be dark blue, and made of cotton," according to an excerpt from Dovere's book.
The 79-year-old left-wing politician also demanded that his room's temperature be kept at 60°F "even if it meant opening a window in winter or manually overriding the hotel’s climate control system," according to the New York Post. In his book, Dovere recounted an episode during a trip to California when a hotel staffer had failed to get the room to the required temperature. “So, Chloe,” an “annoyed” Sanders told the employee, per the book. “You don’t want me to sleep tonight?”
According to Dovere, Sanders would sometimes try to preserve his man-of-the-people image by turning down room upgrades, even occasionally exchanging them with aides and joking, "if there’s a bomb in there, it’s yours tonight.”
That said, Sanders' "comfort memo" reportedly also required the Senator's hotel rooms to be stocked with green tea, honey, Gatorade, and assorted nuts. The book also gave a glimpse into Sanders' apparent love of private jets, which has previously been noted by staffers for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, per The Post.
Sanders was initially sheepish about using a chartered campaign plane, according to Dovere. However, he soon developed a “kick out of not worrying about being late for a flight that couldn’t take off without him.” His love for flying private grew to an extent that his staff ended up devising a memo detailing his requirements for flights beyond his regular travels to and from his home state of Vermont.
According to Dovere, the memo dictated that flights carrying the Senator "couldn’t be too cramped" and "couldn’t get too bumpy." Sanders extensively used a private plane to and from Iowa during his 2020 presidential campaign, as well as during breaks in former President Donald J. Trump's first impeachment trial.
In October 2018, MEAWW reported how Sanders ended up spending a staggering $297,000 on a private jet during the final weeks of campaigning for the primaries that were to be held in the following month.
The expense of the flights, which took him to nine states in order to help boost Democratic candidates, came under scrutiny after he called climate change the "greatest threat" to the planet.
"Climate change is the single greatest threat facing our planet," Sanders tweeted at the time. "On Nov 6th, we must show up at the polls from coast to coast and stand with candidates who are willing and ready to accelerate our transition to clean energy, and finally put people before the profits of polluters."
Climate change is the single greatest threat facing our planet. On Nov 6th, we must show up at the polls from coast to coast and stand with candidates who are willing and ready to accelerate our transition to clean energy, and finally put people before the profits of polluters.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 18, 2018
Sanders' campaign however brushed aside the apparent hypocrisy in traveling around in private jets by saying he purchases carbon offsets.
