Is Bernie Sanders a Democrat? Hillary Clinton says she's 'not even sure.'
Hillary Clinton questioned whether Bernie Sanders is a Democrat in a wide-ranging interview with Politico published on Wednesday — one day after Sanders won Wisconsin's primary, a victory sure to drag out the race for the Democratic nomination.
"When he puts his head on a pillow at night, do you think he goes to sleep a Democrat?" Politico's Glenn Thrush asked Clinton during the interview.
"Well, I can't answer that, Glenn, because he's a relatively new Democrat, and, in fact, I'm not even sure he is one," Clinton responded. "He's running as one. So I don't know quite how to characterize him."
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Clinton also spoke about the GOP field, including Donald trump, whom she called "destructive," and Ted Cruz, whom she called a "mean-spirited guy."
But her comments on Sanders reveal frustrations with a self-identified democratic socialist whose posed a bigger threat to her nomination than many could've guessed when the contest began last year.
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Clinton, who continues to hold a large pledged delegate lead over Sanders, went on to question why Sanders speaks more about his frustrations with the records of Democratic presidents — specifically President Barack Obama her husband, former President Bill Clinton — and not Republicans like former President George W. Bush.
"Senator Sanders spends a lot of time attacking my husband, attacking President Obama, you know, calling President Obama weak and disappointing, and actually making a move in 2012 to recruit somebody to run a primary against him," Clinton said. "I rarely hear him say anything negative about George W. Bush, who I think wrecked our economy, just not to put too fine a point on it."
Clinton's comments come as the Democratic primary nears the final stretch. Clinton leads Sanders in many metrics, including raw vote total, number of states won and the number of delegates earned — which will ultimately determine the party's nominee.
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Sanders has consistently beat Clinton among liberal-leaning independent voters who do not identify with the Democratic party — helping him pick up victories in states like Wisconsin with open primaries that allow people to vote in whichever primary they choose, regardless of party identification.
But he's lost to Clinton among self-identified Democrats, according to exit polling in previous states.
And many of the remaining delegate-rich states on the calendar — such as New York and Pennsylvania — are closed primaries, allowing only those registered as Democrats to cast a ballot in the Democratic primary. That could hurt Sanders, who has seen gains in open primary states.
Still, Sanders has vowed to stay in the race until the party's convention this summer — a plan that was bolstered by his victory in Wisconsin Tuesday night.
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Emily Cahn is a political reporter at Mashable. Prior to Mashable, Cahn spent nearly four years at Roll Call, where she covered House and Senate races and congressional shenanigans. She has also been a copy editor at The Washington Post, and interned at The Hill, the Houston Chronicle and CBS News when she was a student at The George Washington University. Aside from being a political junkie, Cahn loves dogs and experimenting with cooking. Follow her on Twitter @CahnEmily, where she posts pictures of her family's two misbehaved poodles.
