Bernie Sanders pulls ad attacking Hillary Clinton, says he's running 'a positive campaign'

Bernie Sanders talks to ABC News about his campaign.

published 15 December 2015

As the presidential race intensifies, Bernie Sanders has found himself navigating the "gray areas" that come with running a major campaign. An outspoken opponent of negative attack ads, Sanders has claimed that he's "never run a negative ad in [his] life." However, ABC News points out that over the weekend, Sanders' campaign ran a digital advertisement that "portrayed Hillary Clinton as a candidate funded by banks and 'other big money interests.'" It was quickly taken down.

"Sometimes there are gray areas, and we felt that it was a gray area, we took the ad down. We are running a positive campaign," Sanders told ABC. Sanders' communications director Michael Briggs agreed, saying the ad was "a miscommunication in our communications shop."

"Now you ask any other candidate out there if they've ever run negative television ads. Not one of them will say they haven't. I have not," Sanders said.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.