Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders canceled an interview with a newspaper in his home state because he wasn’t allowed to declare certain topics off-limits.
Sanders’ office offered an interview to Seven Days, a Vermont newspaper, on the condition that their reporters not ask about “political gossip” or about Sanders’ family, the paper stated in a Monday article. The FBI has targeted Sanders’ wife in a bank fraud investigation related to a 2010 land deal she made as the president of Burlington College in Vermont.
A spokesman for Sanders, Daniel McLean, is reported to have offered the paper an interview on Sunday night, only to withdraw it Monday morning after the reporter declined to let Sanders set the boundaries for the interview.
When the paper’s reporter confronted Sanders in person to ask for an interview, the senator made it clear that he would only do so on his terms. “Well, as I think Dan indicated, we talk about issues. We don’t talk about gossip,” Sanders said.
Sanders has previously been hesitant to discuss the investigation into his wife. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Continues Dodging Questions On FBI Investigation Into His Wife)