Democratic strategists scolded Bernie Sanders for saying that the Democratic establishment “forced” Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg to drop out of the race and endorse Joe Biden just before key Super Tuesday primary contests.
“One of the things that I was kind of not surprised by was the power of the establishment to force Amy Klobuchar, who had worked so hard, Pete Buttigieg, who, you know, really worked extremely hard as well, out of the race,” the Vermont senator said on This Week on Sunday. “What was very clear from the media narrative and what the establishment wanted was to make sure that people coalesced around Biden and try to defeat me.”
Sanders also suggested that he would have won more states had Buttigieg and Klobuchar been in the race.
“The establishment put a great deal of pressure on Pete Buttigieg, on Amy Klobuchar,” Sanders said on Meet the Press on Sunday. “Suddenly, right before Super Tuesday, they announced their withdrawal. If they had not withdrawn from the race before Super Tuesday, which was kind of a surprise to a lot of people, I suspect we would have won in Minnesota, we would’ve won in Maine, we would’ve won in Massachusetts.”
The Minnesota senator and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor ended their Democratic presidential campaigns within 24 hours of each other following Biden’s commanding victory in South Carolina, and both endorsed the former vice president the eve before Super Tuesday. Biden then won 10 of the state primaries that day while Sanders won four, giving Biden a delegate lead.
Top aides for Klobuchar and Buttigieg rebuked Sanders’s statement.
“Amy decided to get out of the race because she believed it was time to unite the party and bring our country together so we can beat Donald Trump. It’s that simple,” tweeted Klobuchar’s campaign manager, Justin Buoen.
[Related: Sanders warns Democratic ‘political establishment’ trying to stop him and boost Biden]
Amy decided to get out of the race because she believed it was time to unite the party and bring our country together so we can beat Donald Trump. It’s that simple. https://t.co/sJW3AQFfse
— Justin Buoen (@jbuoen) March 8, 2020
“Pete Buttigieg’s decision to get out of the race was his and his alone,” said Lis Smith, top aide for Buttigieg.
.@PeteButtigieg’s decision to get out of the race was his and his alone. https://t.co/loljvoIF1R
— Lis Smith (@Lis_Smith) March 8, 2020
“To change the delegate picture Bernie Sanders needs to grow his vote share. His enviable base has to grow, and by a lot. That math is incontrovertible. Suggesting Pete, Amy and others were forced to endorse Joe Biden by a mythical establishment is a curious growth strategy,” said David Plouffe, who was President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager.
To change the delegate picture Bernie Sanders needs to grow his vote share. His enviable base has to grow, and by a lot. That math is incontrovertible. Suggesting Pete, Amy and others were forced to endorse Joe Biden by a mythical establishment is a curious growth strategy.
— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) March 8, 2020
Buttigieg denied any backroom forces forced his hand when asked on the Today Show Monday what kind of pressure he felt from the establishment to drop out.
“I felt the pressure of voters making a decision,” Buttigieg said. “By the time we’d run our fourth race, it was clear that the numbers weren’t there. You know, getting into this race was never just about becoming president. For us, it was about working to unify the party and the country, and it was about making sure that we defeat Donald Trump. There came a point where I realized the best thing I could do in the service of those goals was to step aside and support VP Biden.”
“The kind of people who run for president of the United States are the kind of people who make their own decisions,” Buttigieg added. “It was my decision.”
