During a cringe-inducing segment with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., dismissed criticism of the controversial rape fiction he wrote “43 years ago” as “very poorly written … something like 50 Shades of Grey.”
“Your campaign described it as satire,” said Todd. “I’ll be honest with you, Sen. Sanders. It’s uncomfortable to read.”
Todd only put up one part of the essay written by Sanders where “a woman enjoys intercourse with her man – as she fantasizes being raped by 3 men simultaneously.”
“Can you explain this essay?” asked Todd.
“This is a piece of fiction that I wrote in 1972, I think,” said Sanders. “That was 43 years ago. It was very poorly written.”
“What it was dealing with [is] gender stereotypes,” Sanders said, “why some men like to oppress women, why other women like to be submissive. You know, something like Fifty Shades of Grey. Very poorly written. 43 years ago.”
“What I’m focusing on, right now, are the issues impacting the American people today, and that’s what I will continue to focus on, and what I think the American people want to hear,” said Sanders, ignoring the obvious discomfort of his interviewer and plowing through to a discussion of the issues his campaign will focus on.
