The claim from Hillary Clinton’s team that “establishment Republicans” are helping Sen. Bernie Sanders in his bid against the Democratic frontrunner is being mocked by the GOP as a new sign that Clinton has gone into “panic mode.”
The latest claim came from the pro-Clinton PAC Priorities USA, which on Tuesday said that Republicans are somehow helping Sanders win the Democratic nomination because they see the Democratic-socialist as easier to beat.
In a statement, Priorities USA chief strategist Guy Cecil said:
“It looks like Bernie Sanders does in fact have establishment support. It’s just coming from the Republican establishment because they are afraid to run against Hillary Clinton. Democrats in Iowa and around the country will see through right-wing efforts to pick our nominee because they know Hillary Clinton is the only one strong enough to beat the GOP this November.”
Republicans posted a video of Hillary Clinton in 2008 trying to sound confident amid Sen. Barack Obama’s surge and eventual victory over her.
That echoed a claim last week from Clinton’s HQ that the GOP was taking cues from Sanders in attacking Clinton and “aiding Senator Sanders.”
Hillary for America Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri said, “While Senator Sanders tries to make a case on electability based on meaningless polls, Republicans and their super PACs have made clear the candidate they’re actually afraid to face.”
Today, the Republican National Committee’s Chief Strategist Sean Spicer simply that Hillary suppoters have gone into “panic mode.”
He said that the RNC has been having some fun with Sanders, but realizes that the force is with Clinton.
“Do we want to run against Sanders? Sure, but we’ll gladly take Clinton any day of the week. Both are flawed candidates I don’t think we would have trouble defeating either a gadfly Socialist or someone under FBI investigation. The problem for team Clinton isn’t that Republicans may want to run against Sanders, but that the trends sure make it seem like a lot of Democrats would rather have Sanders run against us.
“Let’s be clear, this isn’t the behavior of a confident campaign and it’s not like this is the next JFK that has sent Team Clinton into an erratic tailspin. This was supposed to be a different campaign that had learned from the mistakes of 2008. Instead, it seems we’re living it all over again.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
