Clinton Aide on Bernie Sanders: We Kicked His Butt Tonight
Clinton and Bernie Don’t Get Along
On the night Hillary Clinton scored a decisive victory in the New York Democratic primary, her campaign offered some harsh words for Senator Bernie Sanders.
Speaking to a reporter, an unnamed senior aide said that Bernie Sanders could “tone it down” or “f*** him.” The reporter in question was Glenn Thrush from Politico.
Among his takeaways from the night was a juicy little quote. “We kicked his a** tonight,” said the senior Clinton aide. “I hope this convinces Bernie to tone it down. If not, f*** him.” (Source: “5 takeaways from the New York primary,” Politico, April 19, 2016.)
The Clinton campaign has been complaining for weeks that Sanders is too aggressive in his criticisms. They think he has repeatedly taken cheap shots.
For instance, they don’t like the attack that Hillary takes donations from lobbyists and makes paid speeches to Goldman Sachs. At the most recent debate, Sanders used a line he’s been repeating on the campaign trail:
“I am going to release all of the transcripts of the speeches that I gave on Wall Street behind closed doors,” Sanders said on CNN. “There were no speeches.” (Source: “The real problem with Hillary Clinton’s speaking fees is judgment, not corruption,” Vox, April 15, 2016.)
Cue the audience laughter.
Clinton has tried to rebuff those criticisms by pointing to her record of “being tough on the banks,” but the optics are far from good.
She earned a total of $2.3 million in 2013 by giving private talks at Deutsche Bank, Fidelity Investments, Bank of America, and, of course, Goldman Sachs. (Source: “Hillary Clinton Made More in 12 Speeches to Big Banks Than Most of Us Earn in a Lifetime,” The Intercept, January 8, 2016.)
Sanders was hoping those attacks would be enough for a surprise win in New York, but he fell short. The state has been Hillary Clinton’s home for more than a decade, through her terms as a senator and her stint as Secretary of State.
She won the state by a margin of 16%, securing 139 delegates and breaking Sanders’ winning streak. He carried eight of the last nine states in the primary election.
Hillary now has 1,428 pledged delegates and 502 super delegates, putting her 81% of the way towards that magic number: 2,383. That’s how many delegates are needed to secure the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in the general election.
