Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–VT) struggled to answer a question about Republican dominance on social media during a CNN town hall Wednesday night, in a moment that quickly went viral and drew ridicule online.
The 83-year-old senator appeared alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–NY) for a live event in Washington, D.C., focused on the government shutdown and the state of the Democratic Party.
The evening, however, took an awkward turn when a college student pressed Sanders on why Republicans — led by President Donald Trump — seem to communicate far more effectively online, especially with younger voters.
“Republicans have been appealing to audiences, especially young people like myself, using social media,” said Nicole Plewicka, a student attendee. “Why does Republican messaging on social media seem so much more effective than Democratic messaging, and what can we do about it?”
Sanders paused for several seconds before offering a halting response that left many in the audience puzzled. “That’s a great question… uhh… I think the Republicans are effective; they have learned a lot about social media,” he said. “And by the way, it doesn’t hurt that they have friends on all of the social media platforms. You know, Bezos owns Twitter or X… Zuckerberg owns Meta, Facebook, and Instagram.”
The comment drew a mix of laughter and groans from the crowd. Sanders appeared to confuse Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — who owns The Washington Post — with Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter).
He continued, “Uh, Larry Ellison is going to own you pretty soon; I think he’s going to take over CNN, not to mention CBS.”
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The slip quickly gained traction online, with clips circulating across X and TikTok within minutes. Critics seized on the moment as another sign of the Vermont senator’s age and his difficulty adapting to modern digital culture.
“It’s embarrassing that Bernie doesn’t even know who owns the world’s biggest social media platform,” conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong wrote. “These are the same people lecturing everyone else on media literacy.”
While Sanders’ gaffe drew the most attention, it was not his only tense exchange of the night. Later, during a discussion about the ongoing government shutdown, he sparred with another student who questioned whether Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY) bore responsibility for the budget impasse.
“I think it reflects more on Mike Johnson’s leadership and President Trump’s leadership,” Sanders said, referring to the House speaker and the president. “This is a leadership that said it’s okay to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the richest people and then make massive cuts to healthcare for working-class people.”
The student pushed back, noting that Schumer had voted for multiple short-term spending measures but had refused to negotiate on the current one. “He has the opportunity to vote for one again, but he’s refusing to come to the table,” the student said.
Sanders, visibly frustrated, replied, “They need 60 votes in the Senate. That means you have to talk to the other side. Mike Johnson is not talking. John Thune is not talking. President Trump is not talking. That is the problem.”
The testy back-and-forth underscored growing Democratic unease as the shutdown continues into its third week. Republicans have argued that Schumer and Senate Democrats engineered the impasse to secure more healthcare spending and political leverage, while the White House has accused conservatives of using the budget fight to block aid programs.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez used the CNN event to argue that the shutdown is part of a larger Republican effort to “dismantle government” and deny healthcare to working Americans. But the evening highlighted how Democrats are increasingly on the defensive — both politically and digitally — as young voters gravitate toward populist messaging from the right.
The White House mocked Sanders over his remarks by giving him a big sombrero.
