Presidential contender Bernie Sanders insisted Wednesday that he isn’t running “against Hillary Clinton,” but drew on the ongoing fight over a major trade deal to distinguish himself from his opponent for the Democratic nomination.
Sanders, a senator from Vermont, pointed out his role in “helping to lead” the fight against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, known as TPP, and urged voters to “look at the record” — a record that shows Clinton advocated for TPP during her time as Secretary of State.
“I have voted against every disastrous trade agreement coming down the pike and helping to lead the effort against this Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would mean the outsourcing of more good paying job to low-wage countries,” Sanders said Wednesday on CNN’s “New Day.”
“People have got to look at Secretary Clinton’s record,” Sanders added.
Sanders launched his campaign for president last week, one that will build on grassroots support.
In the first 24 hours after he announced, Sanders raised $1.5 million from 35,000 contributors who donated on average $43.54 — a trend that is likely to continue as Sanders has railed against “the billionaire class” and overly lax campaign finance regulations that have increased the influence of mega donors in recent election cycles.
Sanders again resisted attacking Clinton, so far his only announced opponent in the Democratic field, insisting that he is “running for working families and the middle class, not against Hillary Clinton.”
Sanders instead pivoted to his campaign platform: railing against wealth inequality in America, which he called “absolutely obscene” and calling for breaking up the “too big to fail” banks, which he suggested makes them “too big to exist.”
Sanders is also pushing to expand Social Security, raise taxes on the wealth and create a tuition-free college program.