Bernie Sanders said Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state was “not a good practice” and rejected any comparison between his campaign’s success and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's rise.
In an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Monday, Sanders said, if elected, he would “take a hard look” at whether cabinet secretaries should be allowed to use private email addresses.
“What’s going on now, as I think Secretary Clinton now realizes, is not a good practice,” Sanders said.
The independent Vermont senator has pulled to within seven points of Clinton in Iowa, according to a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll. Clinton led by 41 points just three months earlier.
As Sanders candidacy has surged, some Democrats have turned their focus towards his efforts to appeal to minority voters. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, recently criticized Sanders for not adequately reaching out to Latino voters.
“We have made huge progress. But we have a long, long way to go,” Sanders said. “And I will not deny to you for one minute that we have to substantially increase our outreach to the Latino community and to the African-American community.”
Though on different sides of the aisle, Sanders and Trump have been compared for their abilities to appeal to the anti-Washington sentiment prevalent in both parties.
“I don't accept that for one moment,” Sanders told Mitchell when asked about the comparison. “We are not engaged here in demagoguery. We are not engaged in racist attacks, outrageous attacks against Mexicans.”
Sanders said Trump’s appeal is rooted in his success as a reality TV star with an affinity for showmanship.
“Donald Trump is a very strong TV personality. He is very good at what he does. He’s funny. He’s articulate,” Sanders said.
“But I think, at the end of the day, when people focus on the kinds of programs we need, the fact that we need a mass political movement, we don't need one person at the top; we need millions of people,” he added.
