Bernie Sanders Claims Democratic Establishment Forced Amy Klobuchar & Pete Buttigieg Out Of The Race
On Sunday’s edition of ABC’s This Week, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke to host George Stephanopoulos about his thoughts on former candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, and their decision to drop out and endorse rival Joe Biden.
“One of the things that I wasn’t surprised by was the power of establishment to force Amy Klobuchar who worked so hard and Pete Buttigieg who worked extremely hard as well, out of the race,” Sanders said, according to Breitbart.
“What was very clear from the media narrative and what the establishment wanted was to make sure that people coalesced around Biden and defeat me.”
According to Sanders, his campaign is taking on both the corporate and political establishments. The 78-year-old politician claimed that Wall Street, the health care industry, and the billionaire class have been donating to Biden’s campaign in the weeks following his massive comeback. Nevertheless, Sanders still believes he will be able to pull off a win, pointing to his victories in California, Utah, Colorado, and Vermont.
As reported by The Week, Sanders’ comments received pushback from some who believed Klobuchar and Buttigieg dropped from the race not from establishment pressure but due to their inability to gain the support of African American voters.
“And while we’re at it, those same black voters broke for Biden over Sanders by 45 points on Super Tuesday,” tweeted Vox reporter Cameron Peters.
As noted by Jeff Cohen in Truthdig, the fear of a Sanders presidency expressed in mainstream media appears to be greater than concerns about Sanders winning the nomination but losing to Donald Trump.
“Notice that the worry here is not that Sanders will lose, but that he will win. And proceed to transform the Democratic Party.”
Cohen noted that The New York Times often pushes the idea that Sanders can’t win and pointed to its ties to the Democratic establishment, as well as previous endorsements of Al Gore, John Kerry, and Bill Clinton in their respective primaries.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, progressive commentator and The Hill’s Rising co-host Krystal Ball previously suggested that the Democratic Party leaders would rather endure another term of Trump than see Sanders take the win. According to Ball, a Sanders administration would cut their access to influence and thus curb their power.
If Trump wins, Ball says, such officials can maintain their power over the Democratic Party and wait until 2024 to take another shot at taking the presidency with their preferred candidate.
