Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver won’t be joining Hillary Clinton’s campaign anytime soon, but he said voters can expect to see “a lot” of Sanders on the stump.
“Like the senator, I am fully behind the secretary and certainly I will make known to all the Bernie supporters around this country who know me very well — and have received emails from me from the last year plus — that I am certainly on fully on board as well,” Weaver told Politico during a joint interview with Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook.
Weaver said that Sanders himself plans to “stump quite heavily” for the former secretary of state across the country. He will also continue his efforts to campaign for down-ballot progressive Democrats in states.
The two campaign managers met in June to discuss a path to Democratic unity after it became clear Clinton would be the nominee. The two campaigns came together to craft more progressive healthcare and education policies for Clinton. Soon after Clinton released the plans, Sanders endorsed her at a joint campaign event in New Hampshire.
Some Sanders staffers will join the Clinton campaign, and Mook is encouraging more to do so, explaining that “there is a seat for everybody at the table and we need every voice to not only to be successful on election day, but to get these policies enacted next year and in the years to come.”
After Sanders endorsed Clinton on Tuesday, many of his supporters did not take kindly to his concession. On the Vermont senator’s Facebook page, one supporter said she was “heartbroken” by his decision, while another said that Sanders was “f——— lame” for endorsing Clinton.
Weaver admitted that the decision to endorse Clinton was challenging for the campaign too, but he feels they made the right decision.
“At the end of that process, it’s always a little difficult to come together with the people you’ve been competing against the last so many months,” Weaver said. “But I have to say, Robby really extended an olive branch and I think evidenced himself to be a fair … who was willing to put himself in the shoes of the millions of Sanders supporters who are obviously disappointed that the senator didn’t win.”
