Progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, eyeing a 2016 presidential bid, is making Hillary Rodham Clinton’s cross-country ride in a smooth-running $70,000 black gloss van a bit bumpy.
While calling her a friend, Sanders told MSNBC Wednesday that he doesn’t know where she stands on issues key to progressives and liberals, including breaking up Wall Street banks, killing the Keystone XL pipeline and the types of trade agreements her husband championed.
Sounding like he is closer to entering the race, Sanders said that Clinton needs to show that she is willing to take on the “billionaire class,” a reference to the donors and super PACs expected to fund GOP and even her own candidacy.
Then he dished questions to her on major issues in his Morning Joe interview. “She has to answer some significant questions,” he said.
On trade, he said, “Where does Hillary Clinton stand on that?”
On Keystone and climate change, “Where does Hillary stand on that?”
On breaking up Wall Street banks, “Where does Hillary Clinton stand on that?”
Sanders also said that he has been getting some of the support he claims he needs to decide on challenging Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination and said that if he runs it will be because he believes he will win.
“The Beltway pundits are way out of touch with where real people are,” he said. “We get huge crowds and people are saying, ‘Enough is enough.'”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
