In a press gaggle at the Capitol, Bernie Sanders hit out at reporters for asking about his campaign, saying he is focused on the response to the coronavirus.
Congressional correspondent for CNN Manu Raju asked Sanders about his timeframe for making a decision about the future of his campaign.
“I’m dealing with a fucking global crisis,” Sanders is reported as saying.
“Well right now, right now I’m trying to do my best to make sure that we don’t have an economic meltdown and that people don’t die. Is that enough for you to keep me busy for today?”
Sanders’ campaign staff were quick to respond to the Vermont Senator’s comments on Twitter. Mike Casca, the campaign’s communications director, tweeted, “current mood,” referring to Sanders’ choice of words.
“You think Bernie saying the word fuck is scandalous? Wait till you hear about how many ventilators we need to defeat coronavirus that we definitely don’t have,” tweeted senior communications aide Roger Ouellette.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir emailed supporters, saying Sanders would return to Vermont to hold conversations with supporters and assess the path forward for the campaign.
“No sugarcoating it, last night did not go the way we wanted. And while our campaign has won the battle of ideas, we are losing the battle over electability to Joe Biden,” Shakir said in the email.
