Clinton’s Claims That Bernie Is To Blame For 2016 Loss

Bernie Sanders
"I did not undermine the election prospects of that woman!"

During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” this Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders responded to claims that Hillary Clinton debuted in her new book. Clinton went to great lengths to describe Bernie’s many failings, and listed him as a major factor in why she lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump.

Clinton in her latest book, “What Happened” reads as nothing more than a litany of excuses. She takes pains to blame everyone from FBI’s Director James Comey to Donald Trump to Russia and even her fellow Democrat Bernie Sander for her humiliating defeat.

In a recent interview to promote her book, Clinton claimed that she didn’t get that same “respect and reciprocity” from Sanders as compared to the respect and support she showed former President Obama after losing an election to him back in 2008.

Last week, on CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Clinton slammed Sanders, declaring, “The political sin he committed was the failure to move quickly to unify the party and his supporters.”

Confronted with this vast litany of accusations and blame, Sanders – apparently floored by what Clinton has been saying about him – responded simply, “Wow.” In an interview on NBC this Sunday, Chuck Todd played an extended clip of Clinton’s recent remarks on “The View”, asking Sanders to respond. In her appearance on “The View”, Clinton drew parallels between her 2008 run and Sanders’ 2016 run, “I was arguing with my supporters at the Denver convention in 2008 about why they had to quit complaining that I didn’t win and get out and support Barack Obama,” and that “I didn’t get that respect from him and his supporters.” Todd said to Sanders, “She believes you didn’t work hard enough to bring your supporters to the fold the way she did in ’08, which is what she was pointing there.” And asked, ”If anything, your supporters may have undermined her candidacy in the general election. Do you accept that criticism?”

“Wow,” Sanders replied. “But let me just say this,” Sanders continued. “I worked as hard as I could after endorsing Hillary Clinton. I went all over this country. And I would remind people, you know, people say, ‘Well, not everybody who voted for Bernie ended up voting for Hillary.’ No kidding. That’s what happens in politics.”

Sanders argued that some of Clinton’s primary supporters back in 2008 went forth to vote for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in that year’s general election. “They vote where they want,” Sander noted.

“Most people, you know, are not rigidly Democrats or Republicans. They vote where they want. I worked as hard as I could to see that Hillary Clinton was — would be elected president,” Sanders argued.

During the interview, Todd went on to highlight that Sanders is not technically” a member of the Democratic Party, Sanders expressed that he is perhaps looking into seeking re-elections as a independent.

“Well, I will do what I have done in the past,” Sander said. And argued that, “the current model of the Democratic Party obviously is not working.”

“Republicans control the House, the Senate, they control the White House,” Sanders said. “They control two-thirds of the governors’ offices throughout this country. In my view, Chuck, what we need to do is to reach out to independents. There are a heck of a lot more independents in this country than there are Republicans or Democrats. I am an independent. I’ve always been a Democrat. I have worked within the Democratic caucus in the House and the Senate for over 25 years. I’ll continue to do that.”

Clinton in her book expressed that she believed that Sanders some-what paved the way for Trump to successfully brand her, “Crooked Hillary.”

“He certainly Shared my horror at the thought of Donald Trump becoming President, and I appreciated that he campaigned for me in the general election. But he isn’t a Democrat — that’s not a smear, that’s what he says. He didn’t get into the race to make sure a Democrat won the White House, he got in to disrupt the Democratic Party,” Clinton wrote in her book.

“When I finally challenged Bernie during a debate to name a single time I changed a position or a vote because of a financial contribution, he couldn’t come up with anything. Nonetheless, his attacks caused lasting damage, making it harder to unify progressives in the general election and paving the way for Trump’s ‘Crooked Hillary’ campaign,” she added.

“Some of his supporters, the so-called Bernie Bros, took to harassing my supporters online. It got ugly and more than a little sexist,” Clinton wrote.

Morgan is a freelance writer for a variety of publications covering popular culture, societal behavior and the political influences of each.