Sen. Bernie Sanders Credit: File: Paul Heintz

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday warned Russian President Vladimir Putin to “stay out of American elections” following a report that the Russian government was attempting to support his presidential campaign.

According to the Washington Post, U.S. officials have told Sanders that the Russians were seeking to bolster his campaign as part of a broader effort to interfere with the 2020 election. The story did not describe how the Russian government was doing so.

Calling Putin “an autocratic thug who is attempting to destroy democracy and crush dissent in Russia,” Sanders said he stood “firmly against their efforts.”

“I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president,” he said in the written statement. “My message to Putin is clear: stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do.”

During his 2016 presidential campaign, according to former special counsel Robert Mueller, the Russian government used social media to support Sanders and President Donald Trump. In Friday’s statement, Sanders suggested that the Russians were using similar tactics in this election. “Some of the ugly stuff on the internet attributed to our campaign may well not be coming from real supporters,” he said, echoing a similar sentiment he voiced at Wednesday’s Democratic debate in Las Vegas.

On Thursday, the New York Times reported that intelligence officials had told members of the U.S. House that Russia was seeking to bolster Trump’s reelection in part by meddling in the Democratic primary.

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Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.

17 replies on “Sanders Condemns Reported Russian Support for His Campaign”

  1. ” A three year, $45 million investigation, with 19 prosecutors, 40 FBI assigned officials, 500 witnesses, 2,800 subpoenas, 500 search-and-seizure warrants and not one single charge against the target …”

    Your summary overlooks the 34 people that Mueller “has indicted, convicted or gotten guilty pleas from….” https://news.yahoo.com/indictments-guilty-…

    That includes, of course, some of the highest ranking officials in Trump’s campaign and his administration.

    You also fail to mention that the reason that there were no charges against Trump is that Mueller opted to follow Justice Department policy which states that a sitting president cannot be indicted while in office. Mueller made it quite clear that he was NOT exonerating the president.

  2. I’m not surprised that Trumpniks would want Bernie as the nominee. Dems who are less cynical than I am about the party’s ability to avoid shooting themselves in the foot might sputter “but… but… Bernie and Trump play to the same pool of populist ‘independents'” and, sure, Bernie sells well in some swing states and is looking good in the primaries because his policies reflect what most Americans, especially Democrats, really want to see happen.

    But think – really think hard, now – about what you should be expecting from the mass media (including Bloombergian meme factories and social media channels, which are as ‘the much mainstream media’ as CNN) in case of a Bernie-Trump matchup. Play out the divisiveness to its logical conclusion, see the memes in your head…

    Between two populists competing for the swing-state Bud Light crowd, the flag-hugging blowhard will always win. Why? Because he hugs the flag, when his opponent is trying to rationally explain “both sides” comments about Castro.

  4. So, @ GreenMTNBoy2

    The guy who just announced that the Russians are interfering on behalf of Trump is a guy who TRUMP picked as the Director of National Intelligence. Please explain how McGuire is an Obama *plant*.

  5. I’m starting to get a sense of the delusional thinking that has Bernie this close to a DNC nomination.

    How many dishonest, unpatriotic Americans—Republicans, conservatives, decorated military officers, including many, many people implanted by Obama himself—want to convince the brainwashed, braindead morons that the Russians are interfering on behalf of Trump? Is this the sequel to the Mueller investigation hoax?

    Putin has proven he owns the libs, since he’s been living in their heads since 2015.

    For the less informed partisans, the Mueller report wasn’t written and the investigation wasn’t conducted to exonerate anyone, and certainly not Trump.

    What’s odd is the partisans, such as a couple posting here, are so delusional they forget that we live in a land where you are presumed innocent, until proven guilty. A three year, $45 million investigation, with 19 prosecutors, 40 FBI assigned officials, 500 witnesses, 2,800 subpoenas, 500 search-and-seizure warrants and not one single charge against the target of their hoax, but tell us again how Putin owns Trump, or who the brainwashed numb skulls are.

  6. Only the most bitter comments, and the most negative, will mobilize the “dislikers” on these threads. I think they should start a nice little right-wing local paper of their own – they don’t like this one, we know that. For all we know, the Russians are trying to make it look like no one trusts Bernie. I do. I will vote for any Democrat over Trump.
    The Mueller Report did not exonerate Trump. Barr, however, tried to say it had.

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