Sen. Bernard Sanders said his criticism this week of the “corporate wing” of the Democratic Party wasn’t directed at Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of his rivals for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.
“That tweet was not about Elizabeth Warren at all. Not at all. Elizabeth is a friend of mine, and we’re going to run what I hope are issue-oriented campaigns,” Mr. Sanders said on CNN Wednesday evening.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Sanders had tweeted: “The cat is out of the bag. The corporate wing of the Democratic Party is publicly ‘anybody but Bernie.’ They know our progressive agenda of Medicare for All, breaking up big banks, taking on drug companies and raising wages is the real threat to the billionaire class.”
He had referred to a Politico story about moderates in the party potentially coming around to Ms. Warren as a “compromise” nominee.
Mr. Sanders, though, said the criticism was directed at the group Third Way, a center-left think tank mentioned in the article that has tangled with Ms. Warren in the past.
He said Ms. Warren, who has been jockeying with Mr. Sanders for second place in recent polling on the 2020 Democratic presidential field, is a friend of his and that she’s “running a good campaign.”
“I think that there are a certain number of people who would like to see a woman elected, and I understand that,” the Vermont senator said. “There are people who would like to see somebody who is younger, and I understand that also.”
But Mr. Sanders said he’s the strongest candidate to defeat President Trump.
“I think some of the polling shows that,” he said. “I believe that our campaign can win in the states we have got to win, and that is Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida. And in all of those states, the polling has me at this point ahead and I think that numbers will only grow in the months ahead.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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