Sanders attacks Clinton’s ‘credibility gap’

by Harper Neidig - 04/12/16 2:36 PM ET

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders took a shot at front-runner Hillary Clinton after her claim that his home state of Vermont is responsible for a lot of New York’s gun violence.

{mosads}In a press release sent out on Tuesday, titled “Clinton’s credibility gap,” the Sanders campaign slammed her claim and sought to draw a contrast between the rhetoric of the two candidates.

“U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday contrasted his record to Hillary Clinton’s stands on Wall Street reform, fracking, a corrupt campaign funding system and job-killing trade deals,” the release reads.

“Meanwhile, Clinton’s credibility was questioned after she blamed Vermont for gun violence in New York. The charge backfired when The Washington Post called her assertion “significantly misleading.’ ”

The release goes on to contrast Sanders’s stances on Wall Street, fracking and trade deals with Clinton’s.

The Clinton campaign shot back almost immediately. Spokesman Nick Merrill took to Twitter to accuse Sanders of making a “character attack” on Clinton and going against his pledge not to run a negative campaign.

.@BernieSanders‘ campaign has completely lost its compass it would seem. They just put out this release: pic.twitter.com/LqLQsagmRd

— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) April 12, 2016

Let’s be very clear. This is a character attack. This is exactly what @BernieSanders pledged to his supporters that he wouldn’t do.

— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) April 12, 2016

What strains credulity is pretending @BernieSanders is running the campaign they said they would. Maybe those NY lights are just too bright.

— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) April 12, 2016

.@BernieSanders you can spend your day talking about the “Credibility Gap,” we’ll be talking about the wage gap. Happy #EqualPayDay.

— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) April 12, 2016