5 Times a Bernie Sanders Surrogate Has Gotten Him in Trouble
— -- The Bernie Sanders campaign has apologized for comments from yet another one its surrogates, tweeting that a "corporate Democratic whores" reference by a pro-Sanders advocate was “inappropriate and insensitive.”
Health care activist Dr. Paul Song spoke as part of the early pre-program at Sanders’ high-profile event in Washington Square Park Wednesday night. He came under fire for saying, “Medicare for all will never happen if we continue to elect corporate Democratic whores who are beholden to big pharma and the private insurance industry instead of us.”
He later apologized on Twitter.
Song was not the first Sanders surrogate to put his foot in his mouth. Over the course of his campaign, several of the Vermont senator’s backers have gone off message or delivered comments others have found offensive, and many of these controversial comments seem to reflect heightened sexual and gender-specific rhetoric.
SUSAN SARANDON
"I don't vote with my vagina."
The actress and leftist activist who has been one of Sanders’ most visible surrogates actually said this a few times, including at a fundraising concert for the senator in New York in January and on Twitter a month later.
When Sarandon got pushback on Twitter, she forwarded along tweets from Clinton’s supporters that she thought backed up her claim. The Sanders’ campaign took down a video it had on its YouTube page of the January New York event.
KILLER MIKE
"A uterus doesn't qualify you to be president of the United States."
The line caused swift and immediate backlash for the campaign, though it was only part of a larger quote. Speaking to a rally in his hometown of Atlanta in February, the rapper said:
“When people tell us, hold on, wait a while -- and that’s what the other Democrat is telling you -- 'Hold on, Black Lives Matter, just wait a while. Hold on, young people in this country, just wait a while.' And then she get good, she have your own momma come to you, your momma sit down and say, 'Well you’re a woman.’ But I talked to Jane Elliott a few weeks ago, and Jane said, 'Michael, a uterus doesn't qualify you to be president of the United States. You have to have policies that's reflective of social justice.'”
The Sanders’ campaign said the comment was inappropriate at the time but has welcomed the musician back to future events.
TIM ROBBINS
"Winning South Carolina in the Democratic primary is about as significant as winning Guam."
