Even as Bernie Sanders faces an “uphill battle” to surpass Hillary Clinton in the fight for delegates during the remaining primaries, the Vermont senator still insists he would be the most electable Democrat in a general election.
“Secretary Clinton, I’m not saying she cannot beat Donald Trump,” Sanders told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday morning. “I think she can. It’s a good chance she can. But I am the stronger candidate because we appeal to independents, people who are not in love with either the Democratic or the Republican Party.”
Sanders said he has the mettle to sustain media attacks that he would incur in a general election campaign, as both Clinton and Donald Trump have for decades. “A lot of crap has been out there, dishonest stuff about me,” he noted.
The past few weeks on the campaign trail, Sanders has argued that the Democratic Party system is “rigged” against his campaign, as 400 superdelegates committed to support Clinton before he even began his campaign. And he has suggested that if elected, he would do away with superdelegates. With nine primaries to go, Sanders has 46 percent of the pledged delegate vote, whereas Clinton has 54 percent.
The Vermont senator told CNN that he knows “that this is a very, very uphill fight to go from 46 percent where we are today to 50 percent” in the remaining primaries, but he hopes superdelegates will “take an objective look” at which candidate is stronger in a general election. He said, though, that he will use his position to influence the Democratic Party platform whether or not he is the nominee.
