So, is Sen. Bernie Sanders canceled? Well, whether this happened or not, and I wouldn’t be shocked if it didn’t, it’s pretty bad. It’s sexist. It’s a smear. And it’s 100 percent unconfirmed. It’s from CNN so take it with a grain of salt, though its reporter, MJ Lee, isn’t one who has stepped on the fake news rake. She’s actually one of the best reporters on the network. Still, the point here is that someone decided to fire a nuclear missile. The 2020 Democratic field is static. It’s weak. It’s not diverse anymore. It’s everything that should depress Democrats. The economy is booming. There seems to be little to suggest that Trump is in trouble. Impeachment will soon die in the Republican Senate. Was this move done in order to break away from the pack? Of course, Sanders denied that these remarks were ever uttered (via CNN):
The stakes were high when Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren met at Warren's apartment in Washington, DC, one evening in December 2018. The longtime friends knew that they could soon be running against each other for president.
The two agreed that if they ultimately faced each other as presidential candidates, they should remain civil and avoid attacking one another, so as not to hurt the progressive movement. They also discussed how to best take on President Donald Trump, and Warren laid out two main reasons she believed she would be a strong candidate: She could make a robust argument about the economy and earn broad support from female voters.
Sanders responded that he did not believe a woman could win.
The description of that meeting is based on the accounts of four people: two people Warren spoke with directly soon after the encounter, and two people familiar with the meeting.
That evening, Sanders expressed frustration at what he saw as a growing focus among Democrats on identity politics, according to one of the people familiar with the conversation. Warren told Sanders she disagreed with his assessment that a woman could not win, three of the four sources said.
Sanders denied the characterization of the meeting in a statement to CNN.
"It is ludicrous to believe that at the same meeting where Elizabeth Warren told me she was going to run for president, I would tell her that a woman couldn't win," Sanders said. "It's sad that, three weeks before the Iowa caucus and a year after that private conversation, staff who weren't in the room are lying about what happened. What I did say that night was that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could. Do I believe a woman can win in 2020? Of course! After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes in 2016."
Warren's communications director Kristen Orthman declined to comment.
But back to Warren and Sanders, this non-aggression pact appears to be strained and this should complicate election relations between the two left-wing camps, who had vowed not to attack each other.
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And The New York Times is chiming in, leading to The Hill’s Saagar Enjeti explaining the hell hole the Sanders could end up becoming sucked into with this story:
Progressives. Allow me introduce you to the media ecosystem that has bedeviled conservatives in the Trump age:
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 13, 2020
Step 1) Leak a bullshit smear sans any real confirmation to CNN https://t.co/EO9BivXJlT
Step 2) Have those same sources say the same thing to the NYT to create the appearance of a snowball https://t.co/vXX8XQoAFJ
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 13, 2020
Step 3) Never actually confirm that your smear occurred but allow it to float endlessly around https://t.co/f3S9l2wpzj
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 13, 2020
Step 4) Now your opponent controls the story of the day and every single reporter will ask you/your surrogates about it https://t.co/LnhQD6SnxI
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 13, 2020
Step 5) You are now branded as a sexist. You have no real recourse. Welcome to hell
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 13, 2020
If @ewarren can’t take the heat she should get out of the teepee! https://t.co/GqQkookRVu
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 13, 2020
It’s it fair? No. is it cheap? Yes. But this is a primary. It’s an election year. Knives out—and it’s especially to our benefit if Democrats do it.
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