Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders addressed the allegations of “sexual violence and harassment” that took place over the course of his 2016 presidential run during an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday night.
Politico obtained a letter addressed from over two dozen staffers from Sanders’ presidential campaign that alleges a “dangerous dynamic” during the trail. (RELATED: Over 2 Dozen Former Campaign Workers For Bernie Sanders Write Letter Describing ‘Dangerous’ Culture Of ‘Sexual Violence’ In 2016)
WATCH:
“I want to ask you about an article that was published in The New York Times,” Cooper stated. “In it are allegations describing episodes of sexual harassment and demeaning treatment as well as pay disparity in your 2016 campaign. Were you aware of those allegations during the campaign and if you do run in 2020, how can you ensure something like that doesn’t happen again?”
“The answer is, Anderson, I’m very proud of the campaign we ran in 2016. We started at 4 percent in the polls, we ended up winning 22 states, 13 million votes,” Sanders began. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Calls To Fight Corruption Despite Wife’s Corruption Case)
He continued, “I’m not going to sit here and tell you that we did everything right in terms of human resources, in terms of addressing the needs that I’m hearing from now that women felt disrespected, that there was sexual harassment which was not dealt with as effectively as possible.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders attends a press conference on July 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Sanders concluded:
What I will tell you is that when I ran for re-election in 2018 in Vermont, we put forward the strongest set of principles in terms of mandatory training — in terms of women — if they felt harassed, having an independent firm that they can go to. And I think that’s kind of the gold standard for what we should be doing. So I certainly apologize to any woman who felt that she was not treated appropriately.
He added, “I was a little bit busy running around the country trying to make the case.”