Sanders aides pin blame for his loss on Bernie Sanders


Bernie Sanders is reportedly not going to drop out of the Democratic presidential race on Tuesday, even if he loses California, but before he even spoke at his election night rally in California, Sanders aides had assisted Politico's Edward-Isaac Dovere and Gabriel DeBenedetti in an autopsy of the Bernie Sanders revolution. The central cause of death, aides say, is the patient himself. "At the heart of the rage against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party, the campaign aides closest to him say, is Bernie Sanders."
Sanders made the choice to blame the Democratic Party for the melee at the Nevada Democratic convention and personally go after DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dovere and DeBenedietti say, and Sanders "chose the knife fight over calling Clinton unqualified, which aides blame for pulling the bottom out of any hopes they had of winning in New York and their last real chance of turning a losing primary run around." They add later: "Every time Sanders got into a knife fight, aides say, they ended up losing. But they could never stop Sanders when he got his back up."
"Sanders owns nearly every major decision, right down to the bills," Politico says, and he has "demanded that the campaign bank account never go under $10 million," even when his top strategists Jeff Weaver and Tad Devine begged him to spend on TV ads. Politico even got hold of an internal email about Sanders' decision to rewrite the post-Nevada statement to be more combative:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
"I don't know who advised him that this was the right route to take, but we are now actively destroying what Bernie worked so hard to build over the last year just to pick up two f--king delegates in a state he lost," rapid response director Mike Casca complained to Weaver in an internal campaign email.... "Thank you for your views. I'll relay them to the senator, as he is driving this train," Weaver wrote back. [Politico]
"Top Sanders aides admit that it's been weeks, if not months, since they themselves realized he wasn't going to be win," Politico says, but regardless of what Sanders believes, he's in it until July. "He wants to be in the race until the end, until the roll call vote," Weaver said. Read the entire postmortem at Politico.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'Arise, Sir Goldenballs': David Beckham plays the long game in quest for knighthood
Talking Point Former footballer set to be knighted in King's birthday honours after years of snubs
-
Quiz of The Week: 31 May – 6 June
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: How did Japan become a space superpower?
Podcast Plus, why on earth are Labubu dolls so popular? Will buy-now-pay-later cause a new financial crisis?
-
Trump hits Africa, Middle East with new travel ban
Speed Read The travel ban bars visitors from 12 countries and restricts entry from seven
-
Elon Musk slams Trump's 'pork-filled' signature bill
speed read 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,' Musk posted on X
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge