"This is a spontaneous and grass-roots uprising of the American people," Bernie Sanders said. | Getty Sanders: Protests on left aren't like the tea party

Sen. Bernie Sanders bristled at the idea that liberal protests against President Donald Trump all over the country are analogous to the protests and demonstrations that marked the beginning of the tea party movement.

"It's not a tea party because the tea party was essentially funded by the billionaire Koch brothers family," Sanders said during an interview with NBC News' Chuck Todd on Sunday on "Meet the Press." "This is a spontaneous and grass-roots uprising of the American people."


Sanders, a Vermont independent who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, went on to say that there would be protests all over the country meant to pressure Republicans to answer questions on repealing and replacing Obamacare.

"On February 25th, two weeks from yesterday, there is in fact going to be rallies all over this country, and I think you're going to see people in conservative areas, in progressive areas, asking the Republicans: 'What are you going to do when you throw 23 million people off of health insurance?'" Sanders said, adding: "'How many of them are going to die? What's your plan when you raise prescription drug costs, on average, $2,000 for senior citizens? Are you really going to repeal the protection against preexisting conditions so that people who have cancer or heart disease will no longer be able to have health insurance? You going to throw kids off of their parents' health insurance programs?'

The tea party movement began in 2009 in opposition to some of the policies of President Barack Obama, including ones that became the Affordable Care Act. The recent protests in favor of the ACA have flipped the script somewhat.

"Republicans are going to have to start to answer those questions, and the American people are pretty clear, overwhelmingly they want to improve the Affordable Care Act, they do not want to simply repeal it," Sanders said.