Elections

Sanders Rallies 27,000 While Hillary Speaks To 400

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane acknowledge supporters at a campaign rally in Washington Square Park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City

REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders held a massive rally in New York City Wednesday night, as he continues to build momentum going into next week’s New York primary.

Sanders spoke in front of a crowd of 27,000 people in Washington Square Park, giving his usual stump speech condemning money’s influence in politics and income inequality. At the same time Hillary Clinton was across town in Co-op city speaking to a much smaller crowd of 400.

“Jane and I left New York City when we were kids – it is great to be back,” Sanders said. The Vermont senator was born and raised in Brooklyn. Before he spoke the crowd was warmed up by rock band Vampire Weekend and actor Tim Robbins.

One Sanders surrogate who spoke before Bernie hit Hillary Clinton for not supporting Medicare-for-all, implying she’s a “corporate Democratic whore.”

“Medicare-for-all will never happen if we continue to elect corporate Democratic whores who are beholden to big pharma and the private insurance industry instead of us,” physician Paul Song said.

The Sanders campaign has since disavowed these comments. Sanders tweeted out, “Dr. Song’s comment was inappropriate and insensitive. There’s no room for language like that in our political discourse.”

The New York primary is next Tuesday, and Clinton leads by 13.3 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average. Sanders and Clinton face off in a debate Thursday night, which gives Sanders a chance to strike Clinton as he seeks to continue his streak of seven wins.