Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says Hillary Clinton “should cease all operations, all contact” with the Clinton Foundation if she wins in November.
Pressure continues to build on Clinton over allegations that special access was giving to foundation donors when she was Secretary of State.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Clinton’s one-time rival was pressed on if that means the foundation should shut down entirely.
Sanders replied, “At the very least, she should not be involved. At the very least.”
However, Sanders conceded that he didn’t “know enough” to say if the foundation should be shut down during a potential Clinton presidency. He also acknowledged that the group does “a lot of good things with AIDS, and so forth.”
Separately, Sanders was asked if third party candidates, like Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, should be able to participate in the presidential debates.
The Vermont senator said if “people reach a certain level” they should be included, but added the current 15% standard is “probably too high” and “probably should be lower.”
Finally, the former presidential candidate responded to criticism from some of his own supporters that he didn’t do enough to help progressive down-ballot candidates, especially Tim Canova, who lost a primary to unseat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) last week. Sanders endorsed Canova, but did not travel to Florida to campaign for him.
Sanders defended himself, saying, “There are a lot of things happening in this country, things happening in my own state, work that I have got to do. I can’t do everything.”
He added that his supporters “as I understand it, contributed about $600,000 to Mr. Canova’s campaign. That is a very significant contribution.”
“The political revolution is about transforming America, is getting millions of people involved in the political process,” Sanders said. “That’s not going to happen overnight…but I think it is happening.”