Hillary Clinton says Bernie Sanders would not be ‘our strongest nominee against Donald Trump’


Hillary Clinton said Bernie Sanders was not the ‘strongest nominee’ for Democrats to take on President Donald Trump this fall but she stopped short of endorsing Joe Biden over her 2016 primary rival. 

‘I do not think he’s our strongest nominee against Donald Trump,’ Clinton told CNN’s ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’ in an interview that aired Sunday.

But she said her comment on Sanders, who ran against her for the Democratic nomination four years ago, should not be taken as an endorsement for Joe Biden.

‘I’m not endorsing,’ Clinton said. 

Hillary Clinton said Bernie Sanders was not the ‘strongest nominee’ for Democrats to take on President Donald Trump this fall

Clinton and Bernie Sanders battled it out for the 2016 nomination and some Democrats complained the Vermont senator stayed in the race too long and damaged Clinton in the general election

Clinton and Bernie Sanders battled it out for the 2016 nomination and some Democrats complained the Vermont senator stayed in the race too long and damaged Clinton in the general election

The former secretary of state has long been critical of Sanders’ candidacy but her comments carry more weight now that the field is down to essentially the Vermont senator and the former vice president. There is no clear path for Tulsi Gabbard to win the number of delegates she needs for the nomination. 

Clinton also indicated Biden could suffer the same fate she did in 2016, getting politically damaged in a long, drawn-out primary process.

Many Democrats were angry at Sanders four years ago for not dropping out of the race once Clinton was on track to win the nomination, claiming it damaged her for the general election.

Sanders’ supporters complained that party officials were rigging the process to ensure Clinton’s nomination.

Clinton warned of a possible repeat scenario. 

‘I think what Joe’s victories on Super Tuesday showed is that he is building the kind of coalition that I had basically. It’s a broad-based coalition. I finished, you know, most of the work I needed to do for the nomination on Super Tuesday, and then it kind of lingered on,’ she said.

Sanders said on Sunday that he would not linger in the race if it couldn’t be warned but he also noted the next two Tuesdays have big states voting.

‘Look, we will fight for every vote that we can, as we’re — as we try to win this election. I’m not a masochist who wants to stay in the race that can’t be won,’ he said on ABC’s ‘This Week.’

‘But right now, that’s a little bit premature. Let’s not determine what will happen on Tuesday, what will happen in future,’ he said.

The Vermont senator also argued he was the strongest candidate to defeat Trump in November.

‘I believe that we are the strongest campaign to defeat Donald Trump, A, because we have a grassroots movement that is unparalleled, B, because we have a voting record that speaks to the needs of working families,’ he said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ 

Michigan and five other states vote Tuesday. Then Florida, Ohio, Illinois, and Arizona are among those states that vote on March 17. 

The former secretary of state also said she hoped, if Biden was the nominee, Sanders would support the former vice president, complaining their lack of support for her hurt her in the general. She also pointed out that she supported Barack Obama after he defeated her in the 2008 Democratic primary.

‘I hope so because his failure and the behavior of a lot of his top aides, and certainly many of his supporters — up to the convention, at the convention, and even up to Election Day was not helpful. I had thought we would unify, that’s what we’d always done before and that’s what I expected. I certainly tried to do that when I ran against Barack Obama and worked very hard for him. So I don’t know what his plans, or the people around him are planning. I can only hope that they understand we all have to have a singular goal of defeating Donald Trump. There is nothing more important,’ Clinton said.  

Clinton said she hoped the eventual Democratic nominee picked a female running mate

Clinton said she hoped the eventual Democratic nominee picked a female running mate

Clinton stopped short of endorsing Joe Biden but said she thought he could unit the Democratic Party

Clinton stopped short of endorsing Joe Biden but said she thought he could unit the Democratic Party 

Clinton did concede that ‘I will support the nominee of the Democratic Party.’

She also said she’d love to see a woman as the vice presidential candidate but said the decision was up to the eventual nominee. 

‘I’m going to let whoever ends up being the nominee make that decision. There are so many factors that go into it. Personally, I’d love to have a woman on the ticket, finally — again. We’ve had two women vice presidential candidates — one for the Democrats, one for the Republicans. But obviously I’d like to keep that moving, and actually have it happen in this election that someone would be the first woman vice president,’ she said.