Sanders disavows surrogate’s corporate ‘whore’ remark

by Rebecca Savransky - 04/14/16 8:52 AM ET

Bernie Sanders is coming under fire for a campaign surrogate’s description of Hillary Clinton as a “corporate Democratic whore.”

Sanders has disavowed the remark, which was made during a rally in New York Wednesday night, reportedly before he arrived.

“Dr. Song’s comment was inappropriate and insensitive,” Sanders tweeted on Thursday.

“There’s no room for language like that in our political discourse.”

Dr. Song’s comment was inappropriate and insensitive. There’s no room for language like that in our political discourse.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 14, 2016

The “whore” remark has drawn an outpouring of criticism from Democrats, and a rebuke from the Clinton campaign.

Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director, called the remark “very distressing language” and urged Sanders to disavow it.

Very distressing language to say the least. @BernieSanders should disavow. https://t.co/xSNZyHwlAS

— Jennifer Palmieri (@jmpalmieri) April 14, 2016

The “whore” remark was made by healthcare activist Paul Song, who on Wednesday used the phrase to criticize Clinton’s healthcare policy.

“Medicare-for-all will never happen if we continue to elect corporate Democratic whores who are beholden to big pharma and the private insurance industry instead of us,” Song said.

Song was speaking to a crowd of 27,000 at a Sanders rally in New York City’s Washington Square Park. He apologized on Twitter late Wednesday.

I am very sorry for using the term “whore” to refer to some in congress who are beholden to corporations and not us. It was insensitive.

— Paul Y. Song (@paulysong) April 14, 2016

The candidate’s wife, Jane Sanders, defended the campaign’s response during an interview on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” saying they responded as soon as they were made aware of the surrogate’s comments. She noted that Song was “one of many speakers” at the rally.

The controversy is erupting just days before the New York primary, where Clinton is hoping to score a big win that can halt Sanders’s momentum. The two candidates are set to debate Thursday night in Brooklyn, giving Sanders a chance to make up ground; most polls show him behind in the state by double digits.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a Clinton supporter, on Thursday morning said she worries about the tone of the attacks in the race.

“I worry about it on both sides, I think it’s really important we keep the tone where it should be,” she said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“It is unacceptable for anybody to reference Hillary Clinton as a corporate whore, and that’s what happened in the introduction last night at that rally.”

McCaskill said that it was good that Sanders disavowed the comments, but she said he didn’t do it quickly enough.

“Good for him,” she said. “But he should have done it from the podium, the minute those words were issued.”

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) also chastised the surrogate.

“I certainly don’t know the person that made that outrageous and inappropriate comment, but it’s good that he recognized it was outrageous and inappropriate and reined it in and apologized,” Wasserman Schultz said on CNN’s “New Day.”

McCaskill said people cheered when Clinton was called a corporate whore, and that’s when the Vermont senator should have stepped in and told his supporters to remember who “the real enemy is here.”

Sanders was not yet at the rally when Song spoke, according to media reports.

.@clairecmc on campaign rhetoric: I worry about the tone. I worry about it on both sides. https://t.co/YWaaVIp9KJ

— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) April 14, 2016

Updated at 12:44 a.m.

Tags Bernie Sanders Claire McCaskill Hillary Clinton