In wide-ranging interviews with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders slammed Donald Trump for suggesting that women be punished for having abortions.
Sanders, for his part, said that to call Trump's comments "shameful is probably understating that position."
"I don't know what world this person lives in," Sanders told Maddow. "To punish a woman for having an abortion is beyond comprehension. I — I just — you know, one would say what is in Donald Trump's mind except we're tired of saying that?"
Both interviews were dominated by Trump, and Sanders and Clinton came together to critique him. They spent much more time pummeling Republicans than each other. And they agreed that their debate has been more substantive and civil and the one on the other side, despite the real differences between the two candidates
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Sanders also blamed the media Wednesday for paying too much attention to Trump's inflammatory rhetoric and not enough to his and other Republicans' policy. The GOP would become a "fringe party" if the media gave Republican policies more scrutiny and focus, Sanders said.
"The Republican Party today now is a joke, maintained by a media which really does not force them to discuss their issues," Sanders said. "All that I'm saying is that Trump is nobody's fool. He knows how to manipulate the media and you say an absurd thing and the media is all over it."
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Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont spent Wednesday crisscrossing Wisconsin, hosting events in three cities and arguing that his stances on trade deals, campaign finance and foreign policy make him a stronger candidate than Hillary Clinton.
As a new poll showed him leading Mrs. Clinton by four points in the Badger State ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Mr. Sanders attacked her for supporting what he characterized as “disastrous” trade policies that led to thousands of Wisconsin jobs being shipped overseas and several factories closing or scaling back across the state.
Mr. Sanders also assailed Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a Republican who has waged public feuds with progressive groups over several issues, including voter identification laws, union organizing, reproductive rights and cuts to educational programs.
The senator began the day in Kenosha, Wis., speaking to a crowd of 2,750 at Carthage College. There and in later events, he took aim at Mrs. Clinton for her stances on trade policies like the North American Free Trade Agreement and cast himself as the best person to protect American workers from companies who would rather employ lower-paid workers abroad.
“Over the last 30, 40 years, we have had trade policies in this country written by corporate America, and what they have been designed to do is to allow companies to shut down plants in Vermont, in Wisconsin and all over this country because they don’t want to pay workers here $15, $20, $25 an hour,” Mr. Sanders said. “They don’t want to pay them a living wage. They don’t want to protect environmental rules. They don’t want to deal with unions. They’d rather move to Mexico or China, pay people pennies an hour.”
Thousands of area residents felt the 'Bern' Wednesday night.
They packed into the OmniCenter in Onalaska to see presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speak.
The outspoken Senator from Vermont brought along his message of political revolution.
My point is that when we stand together, that when we don't allow the Trump's of the world to divide us up, when we look at the status quo and see that it's not working, it has got to change. Yes, we can change it," said Sanders.
He also touched on reforming our healthcare system, saying healthcare is a right not a privilege. Sanders went on to say problems like substance abuse and addiction should be treated as a health issue, not by the courts.
"That means we need a revolution in mental health treatment in this country. People must be able to get the treatment they need, when they need it, not six months from now."
The crowd at the OmniCenter was estimated to be more than 3,300 people.
Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign might challenge the results of Arizona's presidential primary, a vote that Sanders' attorney compared to the fiasco in Florida in 2000 after the presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
"I was in Florida in 2000, beginning the morning after the election, and this election is pretty close to as bad as that one in terms of how it was conducted and the mess in the aftermath," said Chris Sautter, an attorney for Sanders' presidential campaign.
Sautter attended the Maricopa County Board meeting Wednesday where the county's primary results were approved and the primary day voting mess was reviewed.
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The Sanders campaign is questioning the huge number of provisional ballots that were tossed out by the county recorder's office.
"We believe there's a possibility the delegate count could change if some of these provisional ballots are counted," Sautter told reporters after the County Board meeting.
The county recorder's office reported that 20,008 provisional ballots were declared invalid out of more than 24,000 cast. Virtually all of the invalid provisional ballots were cast by voters who were ineligible because their party registration was "independent." Independents were not allowed to vote in the primary.
Some voters have said the county's records for their registration was wrong. Secretary of State Michele Reagan, the state's top elections official, said at a hearing Monday that the party registration for one of her staffers was listed incorrectly.
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' name is not on the primary ballot in Washington, D.C., after the D.C. Democratic Party submitted registration paperwork a day late and a voter filed a challenge, News4 has learned.
D.C. party officials called the problem a minor administrative dispute.
The Sanders’ campaign, as well as Hillary Clinton's campaign, each submitted registration fees of $2,500 on time earlier this month in advance of the June 14 Democratic primary.
But D.C. Democrats did not email the candidates' registration information to the D.C. Board of Elections until a day after the registration deadline of March 16, News4's Tom Sherwood was first to report on Twitter.
"We did what D.C. law requires in order to get Bernie on the ballot, and we are confident he will be on the ballot," a Sanders spokesman said in a statement to News4.
Board of Elections rules call for a hearing to be held on the challenge against the inclusion of Sanders on the ballot. The hearing is expected to occur as early as next week, sources said.
D.C. Democratic Party Chairwoman Anita Bonds said the issue may be resolved through an emergency vote by the D.C. Council, if necessary. The Board of Elections could rule it was an administrative error and correct it.
A group led by backers of Hillary Clinton filed three complaints Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission against Sen. Bernie Sanders and two super PACs that support him.
The American Democracy Legal Fund, established by David Brock, charges that Sanders and his campaign repeatedly accepted contributions in excess of the $2,700 legal limit for individuals per election.
Another complaint alleges a Facebook ad encouraging donations after Sanders’ New Hampshire win did not disclose who paid for the communication. Finally, the legal fund accuses the super PAC Progressive Kick of illegally using Sanders’ name and claims that group and the super PAC Nurses National Nurses United for Patient Protection are illegally coordinating with the Sanders campaign.
The Sanders campaign last month described an FEC warning about excessive contributions as “standard” and said the campaign would address the FEC’s questions. On Tuesday, the campaign dismissed the Brock group’s complaint as frivolous and noted it follows Clinton’s chief strategist Joel Benenson call for Sanders to change his negative tone.
"Just one day after the Clinton campaign said we needed to change our tone, the leaders of their coordinated super PAC, which is funded by millions from Wall Street, filed baseless and frivolous complaints with the FEC,” Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement. “Tells you all you need to know."
The Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton campaigns are in talks to schedule another Democratic debate before the New York primary.
"There are private conversations happening, so there will likely be an announcement in the next few days about a new debate," a Clinton campaign senior adviser said Wednesday. Chief Sanders strategist Tad Devine confirmed that discussions are taking place between the rival camps.
The prospect of an additional debate comes after a full-throated push by the Sanders campaign to hold a debate ahead of the high-stakes April 19 primary. In a letter dated March 27, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver wrote to Clinton counterpart Robby Mook calling for the addition of a debate in New York before Democratic voters go to the polls there.
"Our campaign continues to believe that the people of New York, the largest April primary, deserve to have the debate held in their state, and that it should be held prior to the New York primary," Weaver wrote.
On Tuesday, Sanders' team sent out a fundraising email urging supporters to add their name to the letter, and operatives for the campaign griped about the Clinton campaign's refusal to agree to another debate online.
The Utah Democratic Party has finalized its caucus night election, declaring Bernie Sanders the winner.
The final vote tally showed 77.19% support for Bernie Sanders and 19.80% for Hillary Clinton. The party said 81,606 votes were cast on the Democratic side of the Utah Caucus.
When it comes to breaking up the delegates, Sanders will get 29 votes from Utah at the national convention, while Clinton will get eight. But among the super-delegates, they will be evenly split: Utah Democratic Party Chairman Peter Corroon and National Committeeman Wayne Holland have now pledged to vote Sanders, while Vice-Chair Breanne Miller and National Committeewoman Patrice Arent are voting Clinton.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Thursday will launch an advertising campaign in Syracuse with ads intended to hammer home his message about income inequality and poverty.
But don't look for any slick television commercials.
These Sanders ads will be billboards plastered on the side of a dozen Centro buses that run through some of Syracuse's poorest neighborhoods.
The ads are the first of any presidential campaign to appear in Syracuse ahead of New York's April 19 presidential primary.
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The Sanders bus ads state, "Nobody who works 40 hours a week should be living in poverty."
The ads, which cost about $5,000, were paid for by Syracuse for Sanders, a grass-roots group that raised money at a fundraiser Jan. 8 at the Palace Theater in Syracuse, said Andy Mager, speaking for the group.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will make his first Pennsylvania campaign stop in Pittsburgh on Thursday with a rally at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at Exhibit Hall C in the Cultural District.
Sanders will speak at 10 a.m. The event is open to the public; the doors will open at 7:30 a.m., and organizers strongly suggest that supporters RSVP the campaign website.
The Sanders presidential campaign set up its first Pittsburgh office last week on East Carson Street in the South Side. Rival Democrat Hillary Clinton set up her first Pennsylvania office in Pittsburgh last week as well; it is on North Highland Avenue in East Liberty.
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Pennsylvania will hold its primary April 26. A total of 210 Democratic delegates are up for grabs, but the process to secure them is complicated. Each congressional district has “pledged” delegates whose names appear on the primary ballot and have declared their support for a particular candidate.
Pledged delegates are awarded to candidates on a proportional basis that hinges on the results of the primary. The number of delegates per congressional district is based on a formula that takes into account voter turnout in the past three presidential elections.
In total, 127 delegates will be selected this way. Candidates can accept or reject individual delegates.
There is also a measure to ensure that the pledged delegates are equally split by gender.
Calle 13 frontman René Pérez "Residente" will join Bernie Sanders on Thursday in a rally in South Bronx. The Puerto Rican singer confirmed his appearance at the free political event to his more than 5 million followers on Twitter.
"Tomorrow I will be at the Bronx with Bernie Sanders and with all the Latin Americans in NY who fight for equality."
Although Residente has not previously joined the Democrat presidential hopeful at any of his rallies or campaign events, he has expressed his support on social media by retweeting Sanders posts and/or uploading videos that, in his opinion, show Sanders' consistency in his political views. "For over 30 years, Bernie Sanders has been pleading for the hard workers and the lower classes of the USA," he wrote back in February.
Rosario Dawson, the actress and co-founder of the organization Voto Latino, will also be joining Residente and Sanders in the NYC borough Thursday
Hillary Clinton supporter and renowned actor George Clooney is teaming up with Clinton in April for two big-money fundraising events in California. One event will cost one couple $353,400 for a seat at the table with the two, and the other a more "modest" $33,400 to dine with the Clooneys at their mansion in LA. One Bernie Sanders supporter, Natasha Losada, took the opportunity to start an event for Sanders that emphasizes one of his starkest contrasts with Clinton: His campaign is run almost exclusively on small donations. Losada, running with the original idea of her friend Sarah Griffith, began the "Dine With The 99% for Bernie" Facebook event to raise money for Sanders while staying true to his message of campaign finance reform and grassroots mobilization. Losada wrote on Facebook:
WE THE PEOPLE are tired of big money buying our elections. Bernie does NOT need a fundraiser with millionaires, because he has millions of supporters willing to contribute small amounts to his campaign!
The idea is for people all around the country to hold potlucks that anyone can afford to attend. Everyone is asked to bring a food item and to make a donation to the Sanders campaign. Losada emphasized that donations should be made by individuals on their phones or laptops directly to the campaign, not given to potluck organizers, saying the event is a "movement of individuals" as opposed to a bunch of fundraisers.
The "Dine With The 99%" event emphasizes flexibility to make the gatherings as accessible as possible. The potlucks are scheduled for any time between April 14 and April 17 (the Clinton-Clooney fundraisers are taking place April 15 and 16) in order to accommodate different work schedules. Losada recommends requesting that attendees make a $27 contribution to Sanders -- a number that has particular significance for the campaign, since it is the average amount he has received from each contributor. However, she notes that smaller amounts are acceptable, and even none at all if a person is unable to contribute.