Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., abruptly stood up during a pre-taped interview for ABC’s “This Week,” accusing host Jonathan Karl of asking a “nonsense” question about whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., should run for Senate. The interview aired on Sunday.
Sanders refused to answer the question of whether or not he wanted Ocasio Cortez in the Senate after calling her “extraordinary”. There has been a lot of speculation that AOC will challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to a primary election after Schumer supported the government funding bill in order to avoid a partial shutdown.
As I have said before, there are a lot of us in Congress. OK, Jonathan. Sanders stood up and said, “Thanks.”
Karl said to the Senator that he still had a question.
“Well, I ask you – you know, you want to do nonsense, do nonsense. No, I don’t want to talk about inside the Beltway stuff. I got 32,000 people,” Sanders said, referencing the crowd that gathered Friday in Denver for an event with AOC.
Karl convinces Sanders to sit back down.
“Well, fine. But I don’t want to discuss this. What was your last question?” Sanders asked.
Karl asked Sanders about his political future.
Sander stated, “I am proud to say that I was re-elected as Senator by the state of Vermont with 63% votes. Right now, I am Vermont’s Senator. It’s my job, and it’s something I enjoy doing. I’m 83, and I’m exhausted.”
Rep. Ro. Khanna (D-Calif.) was asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” if he encouraged Ocasio-Cortez to take Schumer on.
He said, “She is perfectly capable of making the right decision. She has so many choices. She has a bright future. It’s her choice. You know, I’m just going to say that there is real anger. There would be lots of support for the woman if she did it.”