Billionaire Tom Steyer accused corporations of buying their way into government during Tuesday’s Democratic primary debate — prompting critics to charge that he bought his way onto the debate stage.

New York-born Steyer, 62 — the lone billionaire at the debate — said he agreed with Sen. Bernie Sanders on closing the income gap.

“Senator Sanders is right,” Steyer said in his first appearance on the primary debate stage. “There have been 40 years where corporations have bought this government and those 40 years have meant a 40-year attack on the rights of working people and specifically on organized labor.”

The California hedge fund manager, who is worth an estimated $1.6 billion, according to Forbes, announced he was backing out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in January, and then reversed course in July and vowed to spend at least $100 million of his own cash on his bid — a fact not lost to critics on social media.

“Tom Steyer says corporations have bought government for 40 years, but he’s bought his way on to the stage tonight,” wrote Berkeley professor Robert Reich.

Added music critic Anthony Fantano: “Shoutout to @TomSteyer for buying himself a spot in the Democratic primary when there is virtually no chance of him winning at all. Bold of him to so generously waste our time and his money.”

Steyer qualified for Tuesday’s debate in September after exceeding 2% in four polls.

Last week, his team announced that 166,000 people had given an average of $12 each to his campaign over the past three months, totaling almost $2 million.

He’s spent more than $30 million of his own fortune just on TV and digital ads, according to CNN.

If elected president, Steyer Tuesday night vowed to “undo every Republican tax cut for rich people and major corporations” because “the corporations have bought our government [and] our government has failed.”

“That’s why I’m running for president because we’re not going to get any of the policies that everybody on this stage wants – health care, education, Green New Deal – unless we break the power of these corporations,” he said.

Some on Twitter welcomed Steyer’s comments.

“Wow, thank you @TomSteyer — it is truly refreshing to hear a billionaire speak honestly about the way big corporations and the super-rich have gamed the system for people like yourself,” tweeted author Sally Kohn.