Amid increasingly sharp attacks against Bernie Sanders for remaining in the Democratic presidential race despite lagging in the delegate count, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Tuesday urged people to “lay off” the Vermont senator.
“I’ve had conversations with Bernie, he’s a good person, he’s doing his best to effectuate what he believes in, and I have no criticism of Bernie at this stage,” Reid said, according to the Associated Press.
“I think we should just kinda lay off Bernie Sanders a little bit, OK?” he continued.
Reid himself has said that he sees no path to the Democratic nomination for Sanders. The Vermont senator has vowed to remain in the race until the Democratic National Convention in July, though.
Reid also criticized Sanders’ handling of his supporters’ rowdy behavior at the Nevada state Democratic convention earlier this month. Reid pushed Sanders in a ten-minute phone call to mollify his supporters and condemn reported threats of violence against the state party chair. Instead, Sanders issued a statement criticizing state party leadership and calling the suggestions of violence “nonsense.”
“Bernie should say something and not have some silly statement,” Reid told CNN at the time. “Bernie is better than that. He should say something about this, not have some statement someone else prepared for him.”
