Bernie Sanders boasted about the strength of his presidential campaign to the women of ABC’s “The View” on Monday morning, after a weekend in which he and front-runner Hillary Clinton ramped up attacks against one another.
“[My message] is resonating around the country, and we have a lot of people coming out to our rallies,” the Independent Vermont senator said.
{mosads}“We have 750,000 people who have already made individual contributions, more than any other candidate ever at this point in the campaign. We’re averaging $30 [donations] apiece because we don’t have a super-PAC. It is because we are simply and straightforwardly talking about the real issues impacting the American people, and that’s it.”
Sanders on Monday passed on an opportunity attack Clinton directly, using a question meant to pit him against the former secretary of State as an opportunity to instead highlight his progressive record, first as mayor of Burlington, Vt., and later as a senator.
Sanders at one point, however, recalled his opposition to the trade deals signed under former President Bill Clinton, which he said cost the nation “tens of thousands of factories and millions of decent paying jobs.”
“When I was elected to Congress in 1990, we had to deal with trade issues, and you had all of corporate America, and in fact the Clinton administration, saying these trade agreements are great,” Sanders said. “I said no to them, and it turns out I was right.”
At Saturday night’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Iowa, which featured speeches by Sanders and both Clintons, Sanders went on the offensive against his front-running rival.
Sanders never mentioned Hillary Clinton by name, but sought to frame himself as a principled progressive on the issues that he believes could be a weakness for her, such as her vote to authorize the Iraq War, her explanation that the Defense of Marriage Act was a “defensive action,” and her waffling on the Keystone XL pipeline and President Obama’s trade agenda.
Sanders has been increasing his attacks as Clinton has been on a roll. She had a strong debate performance earlier this month and successfully defended herself from Republican criticism last week a hearing of the House Select Committee on Benghazi.
Vice President Biden, who considered getting into the race and could have challenged Clinton for support from establishment Democrats, announced last week he’d stay on the sidelines.
Still, Clinton is taking the threat from Sanders seriously. The sharp rhetoric has also picked up on her side.
Clinton has accused Sanders of making a sexist remark for saying that “shouting” about gun control won’t accomplish anything. Meanwhile, John Podesta, chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign, accused Sanders of reneging on his pledge not to engage in negative political attacks.
But on Monday, Sanders saved most of his fire for Republicans, saying the GOP is running on tax breaks for the wealthiest, cuts to Social Security and Medicare, eliminating abortion, and denying gay people the right to marry.
“We have a very right-wing extremist Republicans Party,” Sanders said.
“Look, when Republicans talk about family values, this is what they’re saying: Their family values is that no woman in America should have the right to control their body. Their family values are that if you’re gay, you should not have the right to marry. That’s their family values. Mine are, if you are a mom and have a baby, you have the right to stay home with paid family and medical leave for at least three months. How’s that?”
For Sanders, “The View” provided an opportunity to appear in front of a national audience in the kind of laid-back setting that he has largely avoided.
Co-host Joy Behar, who had previously said she was “aroused” by Sanders, sat next to him but behaved, though the hosts did show a backstage photo of him kissing her on the cheek, which she later tweeted.
Sanders allowed himself a few moments of levity in the appearance, autographing an old compact disc of his music and joking that he and Larry David, who impersonated him on “Saturday Night Live,” are in fact the same person.
Later, co-host Michelle Collins asked him whom his vice president might be.
“Are you looking for a job?” Sanders quipped.