DES MOINES, Iowa — Two senior members of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign attacked CNN’s moderating during Tuesday night’s Democratic primary debate, claiming bias over the wording of several questions.
“Oh, no, no, no, no. Clearly not,” campaign spokesman Jeff Weaver told the Washington Examiner after being asked if CNN treated his candidate fairly over the phrasing of a question about whether Sanders, 78, had told Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren that a woman could not win the presidency. “Basically, what we would say in a courtroom, assumed facts, not evidence. And so yes, we’ve talked to some folks at CNN, who said it was a ‘cringe-worthy’ moment as well.”
Shortly after, Sanders campaign co-chairwoman and former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner joined Weaver in his condemnation.
“No, it was not fair the way they asked the question. It was not fair. Everybody heard the way they asked that question,” she told the Washington Examiner, before adding it was a “glaring example” of how the media mistreats their campaign. “It was patently unfair, and if it happened to Sen. Sanders, then it can happen to anybody. Journalists are supposed to be fair, that’s all we’re asking for. We’re not asking to make friends. We’re just asking for fair. And that question was unfair. Period.”
During the debate, CNN moderator Abby Phillips framed her question about an alleged 2018 incident in a way that assumed Warren, 70, was telling the truth.
“Sen. Sanders, CNN reported yesterday, and Sen. Warren confirmed in a statement that in 2018, you told her that you did not believe that a woman could win the election,” Phillips asked. “Why did you say that?”
Sanders then repeated his denial that the incident took place. Sanders also noted his 2016 Democratic primary rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had beaten President Trump in the popular vote, buttressing his argument that a woman could win the presidency. Sanders also vowed to campaign for whoever Democratic voters nominate.
But Philips followed Sanders’s answer with a question to Warren that implied there was no doubt about her side of the story.
“Sen. Warren, what did you think when Sen. Sanders told you a woman could not win the election?” Phillips asked.
Sanders and his campaign have made targeting the media central to their message, repeatedly making claims that there is an institutional bias against the socialist’s candidacy. In August, Sanders claimed that unfavorable coverage in the Washington Post is due to its ownership by a billionaire, Jeff Bezos.
“And then I wonder why the Washington Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, who owns Amazon, doesn’t write particularly good articles about me,” Sanders said in New Hampshire in August. “I don’t know why. But I guess maybe there’s a connection. Maybe we helped raise the minimum wage at Amazon to 15-bucks-an-hour as well.”
The Sanders crusade against the media was also emphasized by the hiring of activist David Sirota as a speechwriter. Last year, Sirota started a newsletter through the Sanders campaign with the explicit purpose to spread the campaign’s message by bypassing traditional news outlets.
Since his entrance into national politics, Sanders has long blamed the media for the failure of his policies to win popular support. In a 1988 speech, Sanders blamed his failed House race on unfair coverage toward the Left.
“The function of private media is to make money for the people who own the media,” Sanders said. “You can be damn sure that when you own and control this country, you own and control the media.”
