Hillary Clinton’s campaign is up in arms over a new TV ad from Democratic presidential rival Bernard Sanders that contrasts his vision of Wall Street reform with the former secretary of state’s, saying it’s negative and breaks his personal pledge to run a clean campaign.
“We were very surprised today to see that Bernie Sanders had launched a negative television advertisement against Hillary,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a press call Thursday. “We were particularly surprised because he had personally pledged, and his campaign had pledged, never to run a negative advertisement.”
The 30-second ad — which doesn’t mention Mrs. Clinton by name — expands on the Wall Street reform message Mr. Sanders has been hammering home while on the campaign trail.
“There are two Democratic visions for regulating Wall Street,” the Vermont senator says in the TV spot. “One says it’s OK to take millions from big banks and then tell them what to do. My plan: Break up the big banks, close the tax loopholes and make them pay their fair share. Then we can expand health care to all and provide universal college education.”
The Clinton camp called out what they said is hypocrisy by Mr. Sanders as the race tightens between the two candidates in early-voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.
“I think it is a new phase in the campaign, I think we all expected this,” said Mrs. Clinton’s chief strategist Joel Benenson on the call. “Senator Sanders is here doing something he said he would never do and I think he’s going to have to explain that to voters as he goes out there.”
Mr. Mook and Mr. Benenson said they would wait and see what the response from Mr. Sanders’ campaign would be, but if he continues to run negative advertisements then they may be matched in kind by Mrs. Clinton.
Last month, Mr. Sanders’ team pulled a negative digital advertisement depicting Mrs. Clinton as a candidate funded by Wall Street and “other big money interests.”
“You’re looking at someone who has never run a negative TV ad in his life and never will,” Mr. Sanders told ABC News at the time. “There are sometimes there are gray areas, we felt that it was a gray area, we took the ad down.”
This time Mr. Sanders’ campaign is not backing down, saying their Wall Street ad was not directed at Mrs. Clinton exclusively.
“It’s about people in the Democratic establishment who believe you can take Wall Street’s money and then somehow turn around and rein in the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior,” Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said in an emailed statement. “Obviously she is part of the establishment that Wall Street has showered with financial support. Bernie is not. She wants Wall Street and corporate special interests to like her. Bernie does not. Bernie is showing that you can take on the corrupt campaign finance system that props up the rigged economy by running a people-powered campaign that has received more than 2.5 million donations averaging less than $30 apiece.”
• Kelly Riddell can be reached at kriddell@washingtontimes.com.
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