Bernie Sanders ducks 'rigged' primary question, says his job isn't 'to look backward'


After Donna Brazile released an excerpt of her book claiming the 2016 Democratic primary was "rigged" against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) agreed with that assessment, and then Brazile clarified that she does not actually think the race was rigged. "Let me ask you, in your opinion, was it rigged?" Anderson Cooper asked Sanders himself on CNN Wednesday night. Sanders praised Brazile for sharing her thoughts on what she discovered when the took control of the Democratic National Committee last summer, but talked around the "rigged" charge.
"I don't think there's any sane human being who doesn't believe that my campaign was taking on the entire establishment, including the DNC," he said. "But Anderson, to be very honest with you, my job, our job, is to go forward, is to do everything that we can to defeat this right-wing agenda of the Republican Party and the Trump administration, not to look backward."
Stranger things have happened.
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.
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.
-
Fox’s Kilmeade sorry for ‘just kill’ homeless remark
Speed Read Kilmeade’s ‘rare on-air apology’ also served as Fox News’ response to the controversy
-
Russian drone tests Romania as Trump spins
Speed Read Trump is ‘resisting congressional plans to impose newer and tougher penalties on Russia’s energy sector’
-
Trump renews push to fire Cook before Fed meeting
Speed Read The push to remove Cook has ‘quickly become the defining battle in Trump’s effort to take control of the Fed’
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants