The Hillary Clinton campaign on Tuesday said that recent attacks from conservatives show that Republicans are hoping Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will win the Democratic nomination because they believe he would be easier to beat in the general election.
In a Tuesday evening statement, the Clinton campaign’s communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, mentioned an ad from the Rove-aligned super PAC American Crossroads, which accused Clinton of being in Wall Street’s pocket. Palmieri said the ad suggests that Republicans want to face Sanders in the general election.
“While Senator Sanders tries to make a case on electability based on meaningless polls, Republicans and their super PACs have made clear the candidate they’re actually afraid to face. The Sanders argument falls apart when the GOP spokesman is trying to help him and the Republicans run ads trying to stop Hillary Clinton in the primary,” she said in the statement.
Palmieri also criticized Sanders for his recent remarks tying Clinton to Wall Street.
“Now he’s taking his cues from them, using a Karl Rove attack to go after her,” she said. “Both Sanders and the Republicans know that Hillary is the candidate who can take them on and ensure the White House isn’t in Donald Trump or Ted Cruz’s hands.”
During the Sunday night Democratic presidential debate, Sanders went after Clinton for accepting speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.
“Well, the first difference is I don’t take money from big banks. I don’t get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs,” Sanders said when asked to differentiate his approach to regulating Wall Street from that of Clinton.
Sanders made similar remarks during a campaign event in Iowa on Tuesday.
“By the way, without naming any names, Goldman Sachs also provides very, very generous speaking fees to some unnamed candidates,” he said, according to CNN. “Very generous. Now I know that some of my opponents are very good speakers, very fine orators, very smart people, but you gotta be really really, really good to get $225,000 a speech. That’s all I’ll say.”
Earlier this month, the Sanders campaign accused the Clinton campaign of using “Karl Rove tactics” while criticizing the Vermont senator’s health care proposals.
H/t Washington Post
