Joe Rogan, host of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, mentioned during an interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that former Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign raised more than $1 billion during last year’s election season. Sanders had told Rogan that Elon Musk, former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, spent $270 million to help elect President Donald Trump, an amount the senator said is “absurd.”

“What’s the most someone donated toward the Harris campaign?” Rogan asked.

“They spent a lot of money on Harris as well,” Sanders answered.

Rogan then said, “They spent $1.5 billion just over the course of a couple of months.”

Harris raised more than $1 billion during the 2024 election season, data from the Federal Election Commission shows. Multiple news outlets have reported Musk donating more than $270 million during the election, although the exact figures vary. Rogan and Sanders agreed during the interview that the campaign finance system is corrupt.

“You have now the constitutional right, because your money is your freedom of expression, right?” Sanders said. “So you don’t like Bernie Sanders, you can put millions or hundreds of millions of dollars into a campaign and express your view about how terrible Bernie Sanders is, and you can buy that election, right? That’s your constitutional right.”

He referenced the Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in which the court ruled the federal government can’t “suppress” corporate political speech financed by company money. The decision, Sanders said, is the worst one ever made by the Supreme Court.

Former Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the court’s majority opinion that a principle of adhering to precedent didn’t compel continued acceptance of a 1990 ruling on using corporate money for political speech.

“We … hold that stare decisis does not compel the continued acceptance of (Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce). The Government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether,” Kennedy wrote.

Sanders has long campaigned against the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. There’s a petition on his campaign committee’s website to overturn the decision, and he has shared messages across multiple forums, including on the Democratic National Convention stage, advocating for the ruling’s reversal.

Campaign reports earlier this year revealed Sanders spent at least $220,000 on air travel for his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which drew ire from some Republicans. Sanders said in May he would not apologize for his private air travel.

“When was the last time you saw Donald Trump during the campaign mode at a national airport?” he asked. “You run a campaign and you do three or four or five rallies in a week. The only way you can get around to talk to 30,000 people.

“Think about me sitting at a waiting line at United,” Sanders added. “No apologies for that. That’s what campaign travel is about. That’s what we’ve done in the past. We’re going to do it in the future.”

Editor’s note: Jackson Walker of The National Desk contributed to this article.

Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.