During a town hall with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told a supporter that it’s his choice whether to back Hillary Clinton if she becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
A audience member who said he backs Sanders’ candidacy asked the senator whether he will encourage his supporters to back Clinton if she wins the nomination.
“We’re not a movement where I can snap my fingers and say to you or to anybody else what you should do, that you should all listen to me. You shouldn’t. You make these decisions yourself,” Sanders replied.
He then said that Clinton will have to court his supporters herself.
“And if Secretary Clinton wins, it is incumbent upon her to tell millions of people who right now do not believe in establishment politics or establishment economics, who have serious misgivings about a candidate who has received millions of dollars from Wall Street and other special interests,” he said. “She has got to go out to you.”
During a town hall with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Monday night, Clinton said that during the 2008 election, she did not set “conditions” for supporting Barack Obama.
“We got to the end in June and I did not put down conditions. I didn’t say, ‘You know what, if Sen. Obama does W, Y, and Z maybe I’ll support him,” Clinton said. “I said I am supporting Sen. Obama.”
“I hope that we will see the same this year,” she added.
Watch Sanders’ response via Mediaite:
