Bernie Sanders thinks the GOP has 'gotten away with murder,' reporters are inept
Over breakfast on Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) shared with reporters his thoughts on primary debates, Supreme Court nominations, and the not-so-great way the media is covering the 2016 presidential campaign.
"Campaigns are not baseball games," the presidential candidate said. "What did I read in the paper today? Gov. Bush is getting a new campaign manager. You know who cares about that? About eight people in the world. Nobody cares about that." He also questioned why he is always referred to as a "socialist," with the implication he has "a radical agenda. In virtually every instance, what I am saying is supported by a significant majority of the American people.... I may be old-fashioned enough to believe that Congress might want to be representing a vast majority of our people... and not just the Koch brothers and other campaign contributors." He then had a tip for the assembled reporters: If they are going to label him a socialist, they need to at least call his rivals "capitalists."
While discussing the Supreme Court, Sanders said he would nominate justices who would ensure campaign finance laws were strengthened, and said he wasn't sure why his fellow Democratic contender, Hillary Clinton, didn't have a position on the Pacific trade agreement being discussed in Congress. "I don't understand how on an issue of such huge consequence you don't have an opinion," he said. He also suggested more primary debates with both parties. "It's a good idea to have a group of Democrats and a group of Republicans," he said. "I think the Republicans, frankly, have gotten away with murder. I think people really do not know what their agenda is."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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