Bernie Sanders defended his agenda Sunday against concerns about him and his campaign raised by Hillary Clinton and the Washington Post.
The Vermont senator responded to a Post editorial last week, which the Clinton campaign is disseminating in Iowa, that says Sanders is not a “truth teller.”
Sanders said criticism results from campaign pledges that exceed the more cautious positions of Democratic party insiders.
“I am being attacked because I am too ambitious,” Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“We are taking on the establishment,” he said. “The Washington Post is the establishment. It doesn’t surprise me that they don’t like my ideas.”
Sanders previously drew notice when he described Planned Parenthood, which provides women’s health services, including abortion, as part of the Democratic establishment after the group’s political arm endorsed Clinton.
“I am not greatly beloved by the economic establishment, by Wall Street, by the big money interests, or by the major media of this country,” Sanders said.
Sanders, who has begun receiving Secret Service protection, declined to say if the measure results from his increased prominence or to specific threats.
Security is “probably something we should not talk about,” Sanders said.
Sanders trails Hillary Clinton 45 percent to 42 percent in Iowa in the latest Des Moines Register poll released Saturday, a statistical tie, within the margin of error.
