Bernie Sanders Doubles Down On Critique of Hillary Clinton's Speaking Fees [View all]

[Purveyor]

Source: ABC NEWS

During a one-on-one interview with ABC News today in Columbia, South Carolina, Bernie Sanders stood by and escalated his attacks on Hillary Clinton over her taking speaking fees from corporate banks.

The Vermont senator had just finished arguing he was “not into personal attacks and mean-spirited attacks.” When challenged about whether bringing up Clinton’s speaking fees at the debate constituted personal attacks, Sanders replied: “Well, I think it is a fact. A fact. Anyone disagree with me? She has received $600,000 in one year as speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. If that’s not true, I will apologize. It’s true.”

The past few weeks have been the most combative yet in the tightening Democratic race, and Sunday night’s NBC debate was no exception. Sanders and Clinton, now neck-and-neck in early voting states, tangled over health care policy, taxes and Wall Street reform. Sanders showed no hesitation to hit his opponent for being too cozy with the big banks, and today the progressive superstar said he was not nervous that the battle for the nomination was getting too negative. He stood by his campaign’s heated rhetoric.

“If you look at all that the Republican debate, I would think it was not very personal at all. I think what I have been trying to do, the point that I made last night, was I can’t walk down the street, as you all know, without media saying, you know, criticize Hillary Clinton, say something terrible about Hillary Clinton. It’s not my style of politics. What I have tried to do from day one is to run an issue-oriented campaign, and the reason to run is to show the differences of opinion -- you know, you have different opinions. Hillary Clinton and I have different opinions. It’s called democracy. But I’m not into personal attacks and mean-spirited attacks,” he said.


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-doubles-critique-hillary-clintons-speaking-fees/story?id=36364560