As you know, Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-VT) 2016 presidential campaign is being re-examined after sexual harassment claims surfaced last week. One of his campaign surrogates was accused of harassing a female outreach strategist. When asked if he knew about the allegations at the time, Sanders said no, he was "a little bit busy running around the country trying to make the case." As you can imagine, his flippant remark didn't sit well with proponents of the "Me Too" movement, nor voters at large.
That gave "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd an opportunity to ask his audience, if Sanders can't handle his own campaign, how can he manage a country?
"Boy, that is a tough answer to defend because of course," Todd said. "If you are running to be the president of the United States, if you can’t manage a campaign, how do you manage the country? That's a tough answer to defend."Sanders, Todd concluded, has had "the worst start" to 2019 of all the potential Democratic candidates.
Todd wasn't the only one to ask Sanders why on earth he was even considering jumping into the 2020 race. Comedian Liza Treyger sounded off this weekend on MSNBC on how Sanders, who she called "disheveled, unlikeable and pushy," needs to step away from the campaign trail.
"Bernie Sanders, fall back," she said. "Your year was 2016 and it really wasn't. Please get away from us."
Even Sanders supporters are saying thanks but no thanks to his 2020 hopes.
"While his 2016 run was electrifying, historic and changed the direction of American politics, I believe a 2020 bid would prove divisive and could tarnish his legacy," writes Philly.com opinion columnist Will Bunch. "It would also ignore the reality that the senator clearly has a lot more to give his country - but as the spiritual and intellectual leader of the movement that he’s built over a half-century, not as an Oval Office hopeful."
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