Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is shaking up his 2020 campaign, parting way with major strategists from his 2016 run at the presidency.
According to NBC News, Tad Devine, Mark Longabaugh, and Julian Mulvey failed to have a “meeting of the minds” with Sanders, and their entire consulting firm is breaking with Sanders’ campaign.
“We are leaving because we believe that Sen. Sanders deserves to have media consultants who share his creative vision for the campaign,” the trio wrote in a joint statement.
The firm was reportedly increasing their hiring in anticipation of contributing heavily to the 2020 campaign, including producing Sanders’ announcement video. Devine had issues with Sanders continuing his 2016 campaign when it was clear he was going to lose to Hillary Clinton. Devine also has ties to Paul Manafort, who is awaiting sentencing for crimes tied to his involvement in Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign.
While Sanders didn’t say who would replace the trio and their firm’s services, Sanders did say that more diversity was a goal for his 2020 team in an interview with the Young Turks.
“We have been criticized, correctly so, for running a campaign that was too white and too male-oriented, and that is going to change,” said Sanders. “We are going to have a very, very diverse campaign staff, and we’re going to do a better job of reaching out to every community in this country.”
Sanders also said that a potential running mate would preferably be someone significantly younger and of a different gender.
