Tom Steyer said he followed his son’s advice when it came to the decision not to reveal what Elizabeth Warren told Bernie Sanders in their tense exchange after the last debate.
Steyer, 62, was caught in the middle of a tense moment between Sanders and Warren following the CNN/Des Moines Register debate last week. On the night of the debate, everyone could see that Steyer had crashed the heated exchange between Warren and Sanders, but CNN did not release the audio until later, leaving Steyer as the only man in America who heard what was said between the two.
The billionaire opted not to repeat what was said during the debate, instead saying, “I don’t know what they were saying. All I was trying to say was, to both Sen. Warren and Sen. Sanders, was, ‘Great to see you. Thank you for participating in this. Whatever they were going on between each other, I was trying to get out of the way as fast as possible.”
After CNN released the audio from the event, it was clear that Steyer likely heard the entire exchange. During an interview on America’s Newsroom, Steyer explained that he didn’t want to reveal what was said because he didn’t want to “be a snitch.”
“Well, you know, it’s so funny, Sandra, because that happened,” Steyer explained, “And everyone — that recording that you got didn’t come out for a couple of days— so I was asked over and over and over what they were saying to each other. Which, of course, I could hear. But I also felt like it was a private conversation they were having, and my son — I have four kids — my oldest son texted me within two minutes, and he said, ‘Dad, whatever you do, don’t be a snitch.’”
At the time, Warren confronted Sanders because she believed he called her a liar on television. Sanders pushed back and claimed that she was the one who called him a liar but that he did not want to have the confrontation on the debate stage. The feud began when Warren claimed that Sanders said a woman could not be president, something Sanders denies saying.
Steyer has managed to qualify for every debate since entering the race. He has 2.1% support nationwide, according to RealClearPolitics’s polling average. Steyer is strongest in the early voting state of South Carolina, where he is in fourth place and has 8.3% support.
