Hillary Clinton won’t commit to backing Sanders
WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton refused to say whether she would endorse Bernie Sanders, her 2016 rival, if he wins the Democratic nomination and offered a broad condemnation of the progressive candidate’s style of politics.
“I’m not going to go there yet,” she said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Tuesday in response to whether she’d back Sanders. “We’re still in a very vigorous primary season. I will say, however, that it’s not only him, it’s the culture around him. It’s his leadership team. It’s his prominent supporters. It’s his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women.”
She added: “I really hope people are paying attention to that because it should be worrisome that he has permitted this culture – not only permitted, (he) seems to really be very much supporting it.”
Her comments ripped open the scars of the brutal 2016 primary battle between Sanders and Clinton just as Democrats are poised to begin voting on their next nominee. It could also energize Sanders loyalists who believed the Democratic establishment rigged the 2016 primary in Clinton’s favor. That could be especially helpful with the Iowa caucuses less than two weeks away and Sanders working to establish a clear lead in a top tier that includes former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
Sanders, like other senators who are running for president, was in Washington on Tuesday to participate in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. In a statement, Sanders said, “together, we are going to go forward and defeat the most dangerous president in American history.”
Clinton’s aides sought to minimize any fallout from her comments. Nick Merill, Clinton’s spokesperson, tweeted that “we all need to work our heart out for the nominee, whoever that is, and @Hillaryclinton, as usual, won’t be any exception.”
Still, the lingering tension between Clinton and Sanders is evident. In the interview, she was asked about comments she makes in an upcoming documentary in which she says Sanders has been in Congress for years but “nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done.”
Asked if that assessment still holds, she said “yes.”
Clinton also blamed Sanders’ supporters for fostering a culture of sexism in politics – a charge that is especially sensitive now, given that Sanders’ top progressive rival in the 2020 race, Warren, has accused him of privately telling her a woman couldn’t win the White House.