Sen. Bernie Sanders repeated claims the 2016 Democratic primary race was rigged against him, the day before his first Democratic presidential debate.
“If it’s clear that you are not going to be the Democratic nominee, will you leave the race before the convention?” NBC’s Kasie Hunt asked the Vermont independent Wednesday.
“I intend to be the Democratic nominee,” Sanders said.
“But if you’re not. You stayed in last time and some people say you hurt Hillary Clinton’s candidacy,” Hunt said.
“Some people say that maybe if the system wasn’t rigged against me, I would have won the nomination and defeated Donald Trump. That’s what some people say,” Sanders said.
When Hunt pressed him on whether he would take the risk of hurting another candidate by staying in, Sanders appeared annoyed and asked her if she was asking every candidate the same question. Sanders repeated that he planned on winning the nomination and beating Trump.
Hunt’s questions come the day before Sanders is set to take the stage for the second part of the first Democratic debate. Sanders, who is polling second in the Democratic presidential primary, will stand next to front-runner Joe Biden in the Thursday Democratic debate.
