His apology marks the second time in eight days Sanders has publicly expressed regrets over the chargesand pointed to steps his 2018 Senate campaign took to ensure a more robust reporting structure. On Wednesday, CNN reported his former presidential campaign manager Jeff Weaver would not return in that role if Sanders run in 2020. The apology also comes as the Vermont senator’s allies fret over his ability to effectively communicate what they describe as his sincere distress over the substance of the revelations.
Sanders was asked at a news conference on Thursday about a Politico report which revealed allegations that Robert Becker, an operative who worked for the campaign in Iowa andMichigan and other states, forcibly kissed a subordinate who had previously worked with him.
He began by lauding the political successes of the 2016 campaign, but then quickly transitioned to an apology, thanking “from the bottom of my heart” the women who were “harassed or mistreated” for speaking out.
“What they experienced was absolutely unacceptable, and certainly not what a progressive campaign or any campaign should be about,” Sanders said. “When we talk about — and I do all of the time — ending sexism, and ending all forms of discrimination, those beliefs cannot just be words. That, they must be based in day to day reality and in the work that we do. And that was not the case, clearly not the case, in the 2016 campaign.”
Source: Sanders apologizes to women on 2016 campaign who were ‘harassed or mistreated’
