Sanders: ‘The Sheldon Adelson Caucus’ Was First GOP Primary

Sheldon Adelson is not just the presumed kingmaker in the Republican presidential primary, he is, in reality, the first-in-the-nation primary of the 2016 election season, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders suggested Sunday.

During a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada Sunday afternoon, Sanders said, “Many people think the first caucus of the presidential election is held in Iowa. That is wrong. The first caucus was, actually, held many months ago right here in Nevada. It was called the Sheldon Adelson caucus.”

The Democratic presidential hopeful mocked the Republican candidates for competing what has been dubbed by the media as the “Adelson Primary,” by flocking to the RJC Spring Leadership Meeting, held at Adelson’s Venetian Resort and Hotel, in April. “One guy, who’s worth billions, invites Republican candidates and asks: ‘What are you going to do for me?’ And if they tell him the right thing, he will provide them millions of dollars into their campaign chests,” Sanders said. “That is not democracy. That’s called oligarchy.”

Sanders joked that “Sheldon Adelson has not invited me to speak with him” as he boasted about the fact that his campaign does not accept contributions by Super PACs.

“Adelson and other billionaires have exploited the corrupt campaign finance system ushered in by a Supreme Court ruling in a case known as Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. That disastrous 5-4 decision in 2010 opened the floodgates for corporations and billionaires like Adelson to spend unlimited sums to bankroll candidates,” the Sanders campaign added in the news release.

The Nevada caucuses will take place on Feb. 20, 2016. “We have a path toward victory not only to win this election but most importantly to transform our country,” Sanders told some 2,000 supporters.