Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had two thoughts about President Biden pardoning his son Hunter Biden after previously saying he would not, while talking to NBC's "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker on Sunday.

"When you have his opponents going after his family as a father, as a parent, I think we can all understand Biden trying to protect his, his son and his family," Sanders said. "On the other hand, I think the precedent being set is kind of a dangerous one. It was a very wide open pardon, which could, under different circumstances, lead to problems in terms of future presidents."

Despite that, Sanders believes that Biden leaves a "strong legacy" due to being progressive on domestic policies. He also said that "the economy today in many ways is in very strong shape."

Sanders even went as far as to say Biden was the most progressive president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR SAYS 'VIOLENT' ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SHOULD BE DEPORTED, OPEN TO MEETING WITH TRUMP OFFICIALS

Discussing the minimum wage, Sanders told Welker he would work with President-elect Trump to raise it, as it has stood at $7.25 an hour since 2009.

Welker said Trump acknowledged it was too low, but Sanders said the last time he tried to get it raised to $15 an hour was two years ago and no Republicans voted for it. 

FORMER DEM CONGRESSMAN WHO LOST BY 109 VOTES IN 2020 CONFIRMED TO LIFETIME JUDICIAL SEAT

"Look, a $7.25 per hour minimum wage is an absolute disgrace," Sanders said. "We have millions of people in this country who are working for starvation wages. They cannot afford housing, that cannot afford to adequately feed their kids."

Sanders now believes the minimum wage should be $17 an hour, and hopes lawmakers "can work in a bipartisan way to finally accomplish that goal."  

Washington, D.C.-area restaurants once again will not be free from politics as the Trump team prepares to settle into the nation's capital for a second term. 

Food workers inside the Beltway are prepared to refuse service and cause other inconveniences for members of the incoming Trump administration, but this is not the first time the administration and allies will have to deal with harassment while sitting down to dinner.

In September 2018, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife were harassed at Fiola, an upscale Italian restaurant in Washington, D.C. Protesters confronted them over Cruz’s support for then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his contentious confirmation hearings. Videos circulated online showing demonstrators shouting at the couple, chanting, "We believe survivors." Cruz and his wife eventually left the restaurant due to the altercation.

WASHINGTON, D.C., POLITICAL BAR TAKES DOWN REPUBLICAN SYMBOL AFTER FIERCE BACKLASH

This incident was part of a broader wave of confrontations involving Trump administration officials and allies over the summer that year.

As such, in June 2018, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen was confronted by protesters at MXDC Cocina Mexicana, a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C., over the Trump administration's family separation policy at the U.S.-Mexico border. Protesters chanted, "Shame!" and called her a "villain," forcing her to leave.

Senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller, known for his role in shaping immigration policy, recounted an incident when he went to pick up an $80 sushi order from a restaurant near his apartment that same month. As he left, the bartender followed him outside, called out his name and, when Miller turned around, gave him a double middle finger. He threw away the sushi out of fear someone in the restaurant had tampered with the food, the New York Post reported at the time.

DC FOOD WORKERS VOW TRUMP OFFICIALS WON'T FEEL WELCOMED WHEN DINING OUT IN NATION'S CAPITAL

Also in June 2018, the owner of The Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, asked then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave, citing opposition to the Trump administration's tough immigration policies. 

Industry veterans, bartenders and servers in the nation's capital told the Washingtonian this week that resistance to the Republican figures in the progressive city was inevitable and a matter of conscience. 

BIDEN ADMIN SETS NEW TARGET TO TRIPLE US NUCLEAR CAPACITY FROM 2020 LEVELS

"You expect the masses to just ignore RFK eating at Le Diplomate on a Sunday morning after a few mimosas and not to throw a drink in his face?," said Zac Hoffman, a Washington, D.C., restaurant veteran who is now a manager at the National Democratic Club.

Not every liberal hospitality sector worker in the report planned to protest the incoming administration while doing their job, however. 

A bartender named Joseph said while he was disappointed by the election results, he was looking forward to higher tips with more Republicans in Washington.

Fox News Digital's Kristine Parks contributed to this report.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. — who just won re-election to another six-year Senate term last month — has said that his upcoming term will likely be his last.

"I'm 83 now. I’ll be 89 when I get out of here. You can do the figuring. I don’t know, but I would assume, probably, yes," Sanders said when asked if his fourth term will be his final term, according to Politico.

Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders' office to request comment from the senator.

BERNIE SANDERS EXCORIATES DEMOCRATIC PARTY, CALLS CAMPAIGN 'DISASTROUS' AFTER TRUMP VICTORY

The left-wing lawmaker, who took office in 2007, will begin another Senate term next month. He had previously served in the House chamber for 16 years from early 1991 through early 2007. 

Sanders lost a Democratic presidential primary bid to Hillary Clinton in 2016, then tried again during the next presidential election cycle, but ultimately dropped out.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who is currently 91-years-old, won re-election in 2022 at the age of 89, and will be 95 by the end of his current term.

BERNIE SANDERS ADMITS ‘ELON MUSK IS RIGHT’ TO SLASH PENTAGON WITH DOGE: ‘LOST TRACK OF BILLIONS’

Sanders unloaded on the Democratic Party after President-elect Donald Trump's decisive victory in the presidential contest last month.

"It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and Black workers as well," Sanders declared.

"Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?" he asked. 

SENATE REJECTS BERNIE SANDERS' EFFORT TO BLOCK WEAPONS SALES TO ISRAEL

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Sen. Bernie Sanders says upcoming term will 'probably' be his last"Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not," he said in the statement.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., appears to be in favor of the newly-established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), after slamming the Pentagon’s budget and failed audits on social media and admitting, "Elon Musk is right."

President-elect Trump tapped Musk and former GOP presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE in an effort to stop the government’s wasteful spending.

Sanders addressed the wasteful spending on Sunday in a post on X.

"Elon Musk is right," he wrote. "The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions. Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change."

ELON MUSK SAYS THERE'S SUBSTANTIAL IGNORANCE ABOUT AMERICA'S NATIONAL DEBT

Musk responded to Sanders’ post with two American flags.

Sanders did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The post comes as Musk continues to bash government spending on social media.

For example, he shared a post from DOGE’s X account about the California High Speed Rail Project, which was projected in 2008 to cost $33 billion, and now is projected to be between $88.5 and $127.9 billion. The post also said the estimated completion date was 2020 and, as of 2024, nobody has been transported and the majority of the railway has not been designed. The project received $6.8 billion in federal funding. The project team is now requesting another $8 billion in federal funds.

ELON MUSK WANTS TO MEET ALEX SOROS — AND SOROS SAYS HE'S OPEN TO IT

Musk wrote in a repost, "The government needs to stop wasting your hard-earned money!"

In another post shared by Musk, he is seen speaking in front of an American flag.

"The interest that we owe on our national debt is now higher than the defense budget. Over a trillion dollars and growing. The country is going to go bankrupt," he said. "That’s why we need the department of Government Efficiency, D.O.G.E., on a brass plaque on a desk."

Even last week, Musk said a significant percentage of people do not even know there is such a thing as a national debt.

US NATIONAL DEBT HITS A NEW RECORD: $36 TRILLION

"Those that do often don’t know how big it is or that our interest payments now exceed what we spend on our military. Only a small % understand that government overspending causes inflation," he said on X.

The national debt has soared past $36 trillion.

"America is going bankrupt fast," Musk warned in another post.

"The excess government spending is what causes inflation! ALL government spending is taxation. This is a very important concept to appreciate. It is either direct taxation, like income tax, or indirect via inflation due to increasing the money supply," he asserted in a tweet earlier this month.

Trump said in a statement that DOGE "will provide advice and guidance from outside of government and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large-scale structural reform and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before."

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Musk and Ramaswamy noted that they will work "as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees."

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.