Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks website urged Bernie Sanders supporters who were disappointed with the announcement of the senator’s new organization, Our Revolution, to trust the group’s leaders unless they betray their core principles. The aim of the group is to mobilize grass-roots support for progressive political candidates and initiatives nationwide.

Eight members of Our Revolution’s staff quit in advance of the group’s introduction on Wednesday. Politico reported that staff were unhappy with the appointment of Jeff Weaver, who managed Sanders’ presidential campaign, to lead the new organization, as well as the group’s 501(c)(4) status, which enables it to accept large contributions from anonymous donors.

In an interview on “Democracy Now!” on Thursday, labor leader Larry Cohen, serving as political director of Our Revolution, urged supporters to trust the group’s leadership.

Later in the day on The Young Turks, Uygur spoke in a live stream in support of Cohen’s request.

“If there’s a couple of really liberal billionaires and they want to give to Bernie Sanders so they can use that money to get money out of politics, great, as long as you do not waver from that mission,” Uygur reasoned. On the other hand, “if you get seduced by the money […] then I’m going to totally flip and say, ‘No, that’s not right.’ ”

“Bernie is not a standard politician,” Uygur said. “It’s not like he’s going to take that money and be like, ‘Well, corporate interests aren’t so bad,’ ” adding that he would take a large contribution from a wealthy donor who wished to support Wolf-Pac, the organization he created to help drive private money from politics, as long as the money came with “no strings attached.”

“Don’t get so splintered that you can’t achieve the objective,” Uygur said. “It’s still our revolution.”

Hear Uygur in the clip above. Cohen and Claire Sandberg, one of the staffers who quit Our Revolution, discuss their differences on “Democracy Now!” below.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

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#bernie sanders#cenk uygur#democracy now#jeff weaver#our revolution#the young turks