Politics

CNN Cites Four Anonymous Sources With No Direct Knowledge In Order To Call Bernie Sanders Sexist

Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders (Getty Images)

Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders (Getty Images)

Christian Datoc Senior White House Correspondent
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CNN ran a story Monday claiming that Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders delivered a sexist comment during a 2018 private conversation with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The story claims that when Warren first broached the idea of running for president to Sanders, he flat out told her a woman couldn’t be president. Here’s how reporter MJ Lee described the interaction.

“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,” writes Lee. “Sanders responded that he did not believe a woman could win.” (RELATED: Dark Money Has Bolstered Bernie’s Campaign From The Start)
MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA - JANUARY 12: Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks at a campaign stop at Fisher Elementary School on January 12, 2020 in Marshalltown, Iowa. The 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses will take place on February 3, 2020, making it the first nominating contest for the Democratic Party in choosing their presidential candidate to face Donald Trump in the 2020 election. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CNN’s report cites four anonymous sources, none of whom were actually in the room for the conversation in question. In Lee’s own words, the sources were “two people Warren spoke with directly after the encounter, and two people familiar with the meeting.” Warren’s own communications director, Kristen Orthman, who joined her team in 2017, declined to comment on the story. (RELATED: ‘Repeatedly Betrayed Black Voters’: Sanders Co-Chair Rips Into Joe Biden)

The only actual quote in the piece came from Sanders himself, who emphatically denied CNN’s claim.

“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 told CNN. “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.”

NEWTON, IOWA - JANUARY 11: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks to guests during a campaign stop at Berg Middle School on January 11, 2020 in Newton, Iowa. A recent poll has Sanders with a narrow lead in the state ahead of the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses being held on February 3. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) was expected to campaign with Sanders at the event but was not able to attend because of weather. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

This doesn’t appear to be a shift from Sanders. Here’s him saying he thinks a woman could be elected president back in 1988.

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CNN also published its scoop just days after news broke that Sanders wouldn’t be repeating his 2016 strategy of going light on his primary opponents.

Politico ran a piece Saturday detailing how the Sanders campaign gave volunteers a script explaining how to tear down Warren’s campaign.

CNN and the Sanders did not respond to Daily Caller’s questions on the story, but a Sanders adviser told the Associated Press they believe Warren’s team “intentionally leaked a false description of their 2018 meeting.”