Bernie Sanders Booed by House Democrats in Closed Session

    Bernie Sanders has deflected questions on when and whether he will endorse Hillary Clinton. (Phil Roeder / CC BY 2.0)

Bernie Sanders has yet to officially endorse Hilary Clinton for president, although he is reportedly preparing an announcement. In a closed meeting Wednesday, House Democrats confronted him for deflecting questions regarding his endorsement delay. Many House Democrats are angry with Sanders for continuing his campaign, but they have kept quiet for fear of deterring possible Democratic voters come November.

Behind closed doors, however, it was a different story. Some members of the House registered their frustration with Sanders during the meeting by booing him and chanting “timeline, timeline.” Sanders has insisted that his primary goal has always centered on transforming the country, rather than winning elections. As Politico reported, he defended himself by pointing to ideological differences between him and his congressional colleagues in the House:

Bernie Sanders has an explanation for why he faced down some booing from House Democrats earlier Wednesday: “Because we look at the world a little bit differently.”

The Vermont senator told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who noted that it reportedly came in the same meeting as members inquired as to why he has not yet endorsed Hillary Clinton, that the reported situation was “a bit of an exaggeration, but we have differences of opinion.”

“What I’m trying to do and the reason I ran for president is to help transform this country. To deal with income and wealth inequality, a declining middle class, the fact that so many of the young people leaving school deeply in debt,” Sanders said, before expressing approval of Clinton’s policy announcement Wednesday combining his higher-education proposals with hers.

Sanders later added that he wants to encourage a large voter turnout come November, upping the chances of securing a Democratic majority in both the Senate and House.

—Posted by Batsheva Labowe-Stoll