DURHAM, N.H. — A top campaign aide to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders pushed back against Hillary Clinton’s claim Thursday that Sanders has repeatedly mischaracterized her as a member of the Democratic establishment.
“Secretary Clinton, she has the establishment behind her. She has been a U.S. senator, she has been secretary of state, she has been a first lady,” Symone Sanders, the Vermont senator’s national press secretary, told the Washington Examiner following the fifth Democratic debate.
“Yes, she is in fact a member of the Democratic establishment,” Sanders added. “[Clinton] has noted that we can’t push for the incremental change, we have to take a little bit of change now, and that’s not what Sen. Sanders is talking about.”
In contrast, Sanders said, the Vermont senator “is calling for a political revolution.”
“He is calling for things such as universal healthcare [and] universal education. Things that some people in the establishment, like Sec. Clinton have noted are not feasible, can’t happen right now, that it’s not time to do it,” she said. “So yes, is Sec. Clinton a member of the establishment? Has Sen. Sanders noted and pushed that? Is the establishment behind her?”
“Yes, the establishment is definitely behind her,” Sanders said. “[Clinton] has the establishment on her side. But that’s okay [because] we have the people on our side.”
“We have literally shocked folks,” she said. “We shocked folks in Iowa when we came extremely close – a virtual tie – in the caucuses. And we have shown that the American people are responding to the senator’s message.”
Sanders added that while many donations to Clinton’s presidential campaign have come from deep-pocketed donors, her opponent has received “1.3 million individual contributions.”
“These are the folks whose endorsements we are looking for – the endorsement of the American people,” the press secretary said.
