Bernie Sanders apologized to Joe Biden on Monday night for a surrogate’s op-ed claiming that Biden has a “big corruption problem.”
“It is absolutely not my view that Joe is corrupt in any way. And I’m sorry that that op-ed appeared,” Sanders told CBS News.
The op-ed, published in The Guardian by law professor Zephyr Teachout, claims Biden “has perfected the art of taking big contributions, then representing his corporate donors at the cost of middle- and working-class Americans.”
The op-ed followed a controversial video released by the Sanders campaign that Biden claimed was taken out of context, showing him agreeing with Paul Ryan about privatizing Social Security.
Sanders has also had disagreements with Elizabeth Warren recently after she alleged that he told her a woman couldn’t win the presidency. Sanders supporters on Twitter made #RefundWarren and #BidenSocialSecurityCuts trending topics this last week.
Sanders denied that he approved of his supporters aggressively attacking others online.
“I appeal to my supporters: Please, engage in civil discourse,” he added. “And by the way, we’re not the only campaign that does it. Other people act that way as well. I would appeal to everybody: Have a debate on the issues. We can disagree with each other without being disagreeable, without being hateful. That is not what American politics should be about.”
After Sanders’ apologetic interview on CBS Monday night, Biden issued a statement of thanks.
Source: CBS