Sanders says he’ll do everything possible to help elect Clinton, edging closer to full endorsement
‘We have got to do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton’: Sanders
Bernie Sanders signalled a formal endorsement of Hillary Clinton is imminent, saying in an interview that Republican Donald Trump is “a pathological liar” and that he’ll throw his full support behind electing his rival for the Democratic nomination as president.
“We have got to do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton,” the Vermont senator said in an interview on Thursday with Bloomberg’s Albert R. Hunt for PBS’s Charlie Rose programme. “I don’t honestly know how we would survive four years of a Donald Trump” as president.
Sanders expressed satisfaction with the progress of policy and party platform talks between his campaign and Clinton’s, even as some positions on issues such as trade and fracking remain unresolved. “At the end of the day we’re going to be united,” he said.
I don’t honestly know how we would survive four years of Donald Trump
At the same time, Sanders indicated he may remain a thorn in the side of Democratic leaders, seeking to use the Democratic platform to block a vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership during the congressional session after the election but before lawmakers are sworn in for the next term. That would be a direct rebuke of US President Barack Obama, who’s made the trade deal a centerpiece of his Asia strategy.
“I had the impression that we live in a democratic society,” Sanders said, adding that while he respects the president “he’s not right all of the time.”
Clinton announced on Thursday she would campaign July 12 in New Hampshire, the same state where she gave her endorsement to Obama in 2008.
Sanders declined to say whether he could embrace Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, whom many Sanders supporters see as too accommodating of Wall Street, if Clinton taps Kaine as her running mate. “I know Tim; Tim is a very decent guy,” Sanders said.
“I happen to believe that we should have as our vice presidential nominee a very strong progressive voice, somebody who has a history of standing up to big money interests, somebody who is gonna fight for the working families of this country and who has a history of doing that,” Sanders said. He declined to say whether Kaine meets that test. “I don’t want to comment on Tim Kaine.”
Sanders didn’t hesitate when asked if another potential Clinton running mate, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, meets the test.
“I would be pleased” if Clinton chooses Warren, Sanders said, calling her “one of the outstanding members of the United States Senate”.
“She has a life history of standing up to powerful special interests.”
Asked whether FBI Director James Comey’s critique of Clinton’s email practices could have made a difference in the outcome of the Democratic primary, Sanders said, simply, “I have no idea.” He said he disagrees with calls by House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans to deny intelligence briefings to Clinton, as are customary for presidential nominees, in light of concerns about her use of private e-mail while she was secretary of state.
Sanders said Clinton’s email practices remain a “relevant issue” for voters as do questions about Trump’s business background and practices. At the same time, he said, both are less important than the shrinking of the middle class in the US, and he criticised the media’s focus on superficial issues that he said took time and attention away from the country’s biggest challenges.
Sanders dodged questions about when he would endorse Clinton, but confirmed that the endorsement will come once the two campaigns reach a consensus on certain policy disagreements. “We are working together to see how we can be most effective, in terms of coming together on issues, and in running the kind of campaign that needs to be run, to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president,” Sanders said.
Sanders said the important issue is not when he will endorse Clinton, but “how we work together, how we rally the American people, how we address the major crises that we face, and how we go on to transform America”.
Sanders indicated he would discourage his supporters from voting for a third-party candidate, be it Jill Stein of the Green Party or Libertarian Gary Johnson. “What I’m going to say to them is, this country faces enormous crises” and Trump would be a disaster as president.
“Look, you’re talking to somebody who is the longest-serving independent in the history of the United States Congress,” he said. “And I understand where people are coming from.”
