An already-fractured Democrat Party is dealing with more splinters as its former standard bearer, Hillary Clinton, tore into one of the party’s frontrunners for this year’s presidential nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Clinton made the remarks in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in advance of the new Hulu mini-series Hillary, which will premier at the Sundance Film Festival.
In the documentary, Clinton reportedly says of her main rival for the 2016 Democrat presidential nomination: “He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It’s just all baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.”
Apparently not content with having robbed Sanders of a chance at the 2016 nomination, Clinton appears just fine with trying to undercut the Vermont senator again — this time from the sidelines.
Despite the Clinton campaign and the DNC’s obvious sabotage of Sanders in 2016 with their control of campaign funds and the hefty influence of Clinton backing superdelegates, Sanders eventually went on to endorse Clinton and even campaign for her. But many Clinton allies believe that the DNC’s treatment of Sanders throughout the primaries caused progressives to stay at home on election night 2016, thus costing her the election. The rift has some wondering if the disparate wings of party can unite around whomever the party chooses during the upcoming primary season and the Milwaukee convention in July.
Even if Sanders ultimately wins the nomination, Clinton is not yet certain she would support him over Donald Trump in the general election. When asked if she would endorse or campaign for Sanders, Clinton hesitated.
“I’m not going to go there yet. We’re still in a very vigorous primary season. I will say, however, that it’s not only him, it’s the culture around him. It’s his leadership team. It’s his prominent supporters. It’s his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women.”
It’s the second time this month that Sanders or his campaign have been accused of misogyny by a high-level Democrat female. Earlier this month, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), one of Sanders’ chief rivals for this year’s nomination, said that Sanders told her in a private 2018 meeting that a woman can’t win the presidency. Sanders vehemently denied the charge.
It’s ironic that some Democrats (Warren and Clinton) are going after the Democrat candidate who is probably the furthest to the left on the basis of identity politics. On Warren’s part, you can almost understand the move, as she is declining in the polls; it’s sort of a “Hail Mary” pass to gain support. But in Clinton’s case, it’s almost as if she is now blaming Sanders (among many others) for election defeat in 2016.
It’s not as if Sanders has no female support. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) chose to endorse Sanders over the other leftist extremist on the debate stage, Elizabeth Warren. And on Monday, AOC added fuel to the Democrat bonfire by suggesting that she, Bernie, and other hardcore leftists don’t really feel at home in the Democrat Party.
“We don’t have a left party in the United States. The Democratic Party is not a left party,” AOC said at a Martin Luther King Day event. “The Democratic Party is a center or a center-conservative party.”
If that’s true, how far left do they intend to go?
Sanders, who is busy with the impeachment circus today, declined to answer Clinton’s attack. “My focus today is on a monumental moment in American history: the impeachment of Donald Trump,” Sanders said. “Together, we are going to go forward and defeat the most dangerous president in American history.”
But other Democrats were less restrained in calling out the former first lady. “It’s bullsh*t,” said leftwing strategist Jonathon Tasini, a Sanders backer. “I’m confident, if Bernie is the nominee, that any sane Democrat will understand the singular objective of beating Trump.”
And there’s the real issue for the Democrats: How do they beat Trump?
Of course, that’s what this futile impeachment is about. With an historically weak lineup of candidates including the top “progressive” Sanders and former vice president and gaffe machine Joe Biden, who represents the more centrist wing of the party, how else can they possibly win?
Photo: AP Images
James Murphy is a freelance journalist who writes on a variety of subjects with a primary focus on the ongoing anthropogenic climate-change hoax ancultural issues. He can be reached at [email protected].
