There is **no credible evidence** showing that Senator Bernie Sanders has received ânearly $2 million from Big Pharma.â In fact, based on publicly available campaign finance records, Senator Sanders is among the *least* funded by pharmaceutical corporate PACs compared to most of his congressional colleagues. Here is a clearer breakdown:
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## 1. Sandersâs Stance on Corporate PAC Money
- **Longstanding Position**: Bernie Sanders has consistently campaigned on rejecting corporate PAC contributions (including from pharmaceutical companies). While *individual* employees of any industry can still donate to a candidate, corporate-affiliated PACs (which are typically how large companies channel campaign money) have been essentially off-limits in Sandersâs campaigns.
- **Small-Dollar Donations**: A hallmark of Sandersâs fundraising has been small donations from a large base of individual donors. His average donation size is historically low compared to that of most other major presidential or senatorial candidates.
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## 2. What the Data Actually Shows
Public recordsâsuch as those compiled by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and nonpartisan watchdog groups like [OpenSecrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/)âallow anyone to see who donates to candidates. These data can be broken down by industry, but itâs crucial to note **how** âindustry contributionsâ are defined:
1. **Individual Employees**: If a person works for a pharmaceutical company (like Pfizer or Merck) and donates personallyâeven $25âit gets tagged under the âPharmaceutical/Health Productsâ sector in many databases.
2. **PAC Contributions**: Official corporate or industry PAC donations come directly from organizations tied to a company (e.g., âPfizer Inc. PACâ).
According to OpenSecrets, the total contributions to Bernie Sanders from the âPharmaceutical/Health Productsâ category (including *all* cycles over many years, and mostly from *individual* employees rather than corporate PACs) are *far* below $2 million. In fact, if you look at specific cycles, the sum coming from pharma-linked PACs is extremely lowâusually just a few thousand dollars.
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## 3. Possible Sources of the False Claim
- **Mislabeling or Aggregating All Health Donations**: Some sources may lump together all âhealthcareâ donations (which could include nurses, doctors, hospital workers, mental health professionals, etc.) as âpharmaceuticalâ money. This can inflate numbers misleadingly. Even then, Sandersâs total from âHealthcare Professionalsâ is primarily small individual donations, *not* large industry PAC contributions.
- **Confusion Over Time Period and Categories**: Another possibility is taking the total donations from *all healthcare sectors* over multiple election cycles (including hospitals, professional associations, and individual donors), then labeling it incorrectly as âBig Pharmaâ money.
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## 4. Conclusion
- **No, Sanders Has Not Taken $2 Million from âBig Pharmaâ**: The claim that he received nearly $2 million from pharmaceutical companies does not align with FEC and OpenSecrets data.
- **Mostly Small Donors**: Sandersâs campaign finance profile is dominated by small individual donations, and he has actively rejected large corporate PAC contributions, including those from pharmaceutical giants.
If you want to verify the numbers for yourself, the best resource is [OpenSecrets.org](https://www.opensecrets.org/)âyou can search for Bernie Sanders, look at his top industries and PAC contributions, and compare them with other members of Congress or presidential candidates to see the clear differences in funding sources.
**Bottom line**: The claim that Bernie Sanders accepted nearly $2 million from Big Pharma is *not supported* by the official data. It appears to be a misunderstanding or a piece of misinformation.
