Sanders at Millionaire Status: "I did not know it was a crime to write a good book"

Sen. Bernie SandersBernard (Bernie) Sanders2020 Dems defend Omar against Trump Biden's critics, Warren and Sanders express their support for Stop & Shop strike workers Two dozen Dem senators ask Trump to extend his nuclear treaty with Russia MORE (I-Vt.) Postponed Saturday the critics that he received after declaring this week that he was a millionaire.

"I did not know that it was a crime to write a good book, which turned out to be a bestseller," said the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to a crowd of people in Gary, Ind.

"I do not apologize for writing the number three best-seller book of the New York Times. [list]"He added, but reaffirmed his belief in a" progressive tax system demanding that the richest people in this country finally start paying their fair share of taxes. "

Bernie Sanders expresses it to Gary, IN: "I did not know that it was a crime to write a good book, which turned out to be a bestseller." pic.twitter.com/vbfWjE0jCr

– The hill (@thehill) April 13, 2019

Sanders told The New York Times in an article published Tuesday that he had become a millionaire because of book sales.

"If you write a bestseller, you can also become a millionaire," he told the newspaper. He also said that he would release his tax returns by Monday. Some of his competitors for the Democratic nomination have already released their reports.

The 2017 Sanders Senate financial status statement forms indicate that he made about $ 1.06 million that year, mostly in book royalties, the Times reported.

The Vermont Independent has also been criticized for not publishing its tax returns, but has pledged in the Times to disclose them by Monday.

Sanders has described himself as a democratic socialist and claimed that the rich, especially the billionaires, do not pay enough taxes. He is among more than a dozen people fighting over the Democratic Party nomination for 2020.