Sanders: I misspoke about slowing campaign pace

Burlington, Vt. — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that he “misspoke” when he told reporters he may slow his frenetic campaigning pace after a recent heart attack.

The Vermont senator backtracked in an interview with NBC News just a day after indicating that health concerns would force him to change “the nature” of his campaign, in the short term, at least.

“We’re going to get back into the groove of a very vigorous campaign,” Sanders told NBC, downplaying the impact of the heat attack, which required him to be rushed to the hospital where he received two stents to clear a clogged artery in his heart.

“People should think that I had a procedure which hundreds of thousands of people a year have,” Sanders continued. “People should think that according to the doctors I’m on the way to a full recovery.”

The 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist was hospitalized after experiencing chest discomfort while campaigning in Las Vegas last week. His staff initially said the stents were inserted for a blocked artery, revealing only two days later that he had had a heart attack.

Sanders told NBC it was “nonsense” to suggest his staff hadn’t been forthright about his condition. He said he was still talking to doctors and trying to understand what was going on.

“I think we did it appropriately and we did it as quickly as possible. No apologies,” Sanders said.