To the Journal editor:

Bernie Sanders is on the record, but even more importantly on videotape (from Aug. 8, 1985 and June 13, 1988) uncritically publicly praising the so-called virtues of communist dictatorships in Cuba under Fidel Castro, in Nicaragua under Daniel Ortega and in the Soviet Union under totalitarian tyranny.

Sanders and his second wife Jane spent their 1988 marital honeymoon in the Soviet Union. Why would Bernie Sanders, of all places on this planet, actually voluntarily pick the Soviet Union as the destination for their honeymoon? (Were all of the available hotel rooms in Cuba, Nicaragua, and North Korea already booked in 1988?)

From the numerous communal kibbutzim in Israel that Bernie Sanders could have chosen from in 1963, why would Sanders have voluntarily joined Kibbutz Sha’ar Ha’amakim whose founder Aharon Cohen was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union?

According to the Feb. 9, 2016 edition of The Times of Israel, “The kibbutz belonged to the Israeli political party Mapam, which in the 1950s had been a communist, Soviet-affiliated faction. Kibbutz members had admired Joseph Stalin until his death, and they would celebrate May Day with red flags.”

If Sanders were to ever publicly disclose the truth about his prior political activities, that’s the day those much-heralded tens of millions of dollars in donations will cease. These days, your favorite so-called democratic socialist Senator Sanders prefers flying on his personal private jet plane to sitting with us commoners in coach. Joe Biden still rides Amtrak, from what I’ve heard. And I thought Biden was supposed to be the elitist, Bernie?

This might explain why Sanders vehemently refused to disclose any of his tax returns until April 2019, when Senator Sanders finally had to admit that he has been a member of the top 1% of Americans economically all along, while publicly, dishonestly pretending to be otherwise. Sincerely,

JAKE PICKERING

Arcata, California