Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had a surprising answer when he was pressed on how to pay for his socialist policies — he said Americans would be "delighted" to pay more in taxes.

Sanders was speaking to Anderson Cooper on CNN when he made the comments about taxes.

"Do enough Americans know what you mean by [socialism] and what that actually looks like?" Cooper asked.

"Look, what we have to understand," said Sanders, "for example, just for example, the United States is the only major country on Earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people, as a right. In many countries in Europe, Germany for one, you go to college, and the cost of college is zero. I think in Finland they actually pay you to go to college.

"In most of the countries around the world the level of income and wealth inequality," he continued, "which in the United States today is worse than at any time since the 1920s with three families owning more wealth than the bottom half of America, that level of income and wealth inequality is much less severe than it is right here in the United States."

Cooper pointed out that individual personal taxes in those countries are much higher than in the U.S.

"Yeah but I suspect people in this country would be delighted to pay more in taxes, if they had comprehensive healthcare as a human right!" Sanders responded.

Here's the video of his comments:

Bernie Sanders on paying for socialism: “People in this country would be delighted to pay more in taxes." pic.twitter.com/A3FMpdGJ0U

— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) June 13, 2019

Sanders has so far polled second in the Democratic primary campaign behind former Vice President Joe Biden.