Bernie Sanders jokes about ogling a topless woman at his rally

Bernie Sanders' rally in Arizona last weekend was momentarily interrupted when a woman protesting Donald Trump took off her shirt to reveal the message "Hate speech is not free speech," written on her chest.

Sanders joked that he "was trying very hard to get every detail" of her message during a Monday interview on the Arizona radio station KTAR, after the show's host asked if he could read the words on her body. "No, just kidding. No," he said.

While the woman's message is never explicitly stated during the interview, the show's host further joked that he actually did try to read the words, to which Sanders replied: "You were really studying the issue as an investigative reporter, was that what you were doing? Good. That's what a reporter should do."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Sanders quickly segued into his business-as-usual economic message, saying, "No, actually, I was trying to focus on a couple of other things" — those things being the disappearance of the middle class, wealth inequality, and the problem with super PACs.

Listen to the whole interview below. Stephanie Talmadge