Bernie and Jane Sanders won’t release their back tax returns until Democratic rival Hillary Clinton releases the transcripts of her Wall Street speeches, Jane Sanders said Tuesday afternoon.
Bernie Sanders has repeatedly called on the Clinton campaign to release her speeches in an effort to show she’s aligned with powerful Wall Street interests.
But he has been slow to answer Clinton’s demand to release his tax returns, saying in a CNN debate earlier this month that his wife handles their financial affairs and has been too busy campaigning. The Sanders made public their 2014 return the next evening, showing they earned nearly $206,000 and paid about $28,000 in federal taxes that year.
Asked Tuesday when the campaign plans to issue prior years’ returns, Jane Sanders told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer they will wait to see whether Clinton will disclose her transcripts.
She quickly pivoted back to her main talking point: That the issues her husband has raised should be at the center of the campaign. With Sanders’ chances of winning the nomination slipping away, Jane Sanders promised the political revolution will continue beyond the Democratic convention in July.
“What his agenda is is the future of the Democratic Party and the future of our nation,” she said on “Wolf,” citing the nation’s high level of child poverty and the cost of college. “It’s very important that the issues that Bernie is talking about are carried forward and he is intending to do that. Winning the presidency is not enough.”
Jane Sanders, however, dismissed Donald Trump’s suggestion that her husband run as an independent if he doesn’t secure the nomination. She said Clinton and Sanders have more that unite them than divide them.
Noting that 10 states have yet to vote, Jane Sanders said her husband will not drop out. But they will support the eventual nominee and continue talking about issues key to American voters.
“We will help to make Secretary Clinton an even better candidate in the general election,” Sanders said.