Perez says he thinks Sanders will ‘abide by the rules’ at Democratic convention

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez on Wednesday said that he thinks Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will “abide by the rules” at the Democratic National Convention.

Perez told MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that he is “confident” the Democratic party will unite together to defeat President Trump.

“I have great faith in whoever wins the nomination,” he said. “Sen. Sanders, the vice president, they all understand that this is a different moment.”

“This is our democracy as we know it on the ballot,” he added. “We can withstand four years of Donald Trump, but we can’t withstand eight.”

MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell pushed back on Perez’s answer, saying the party did not unite in 2016 when Sanders lost the nomination to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

The chairman responded by saying the party “came together” in 2008 when Clinton lost to then Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), but Mitchell said, “Neither of them are Bernie Sanders.”

Perez maintained he had “great confidence that every candidate will abide by it,” including Sanders. 

“Everybody knows what the rules are,” he said. “Sen. Sanders knows what the rules are, and I’m confident that Sen. Sanders will abide by the rules.”

Perez’s comments come as the Democratic primary tightens following a strong performance by former Vice President Joe Biden on Super Tuesday. Biden is projected to come out victorious in 10 of the 14 states, with Sanders winning the other four, including delegate-rich California.  

Sanders had previously led in the number of delegates before Super Tuesday after winning New Hampshire and Nevada and coming in second in Iowa. When he was leading, Sanders was the only candidate who said during Nevada’s debate that he thought the candidate with the plurality of the delegates should automatically win the nomination, which sparked debate. 

But Biden started his comeback with a win in South Carolina last weekend, leading former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to drop out and endorse the former vice president.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Biden has 566 delegates allocated to him and Sanders has 501, although not all of the Super Tuesday delegates have been distributed.