Top advisers to Bernie Sanders’s now-defunct presidential campaign met with Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile on Monday, before assuring others on a private call that the Vermont senator will work to help Hillary Clinton and down-ballot Democrats get elected in November.
{mosads}Former Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told DNC officials on a private call Monday that the senator would be devoted to campaigning for Clinton, according to Politico.
Brazile facilitated the call — focused on a 50-state election strategy — and noted that Weaver said he was willing to help “through this election process and beyond.”
“I know that sometimes in primaries there can be sharp elbows, and I hope I haven’t bumped into too many of you,” Weaver said on the call, according to Politico. “But as we go forward into the general election, I’m very happy to be working with members of the Clinton team in trying to get the secretary elected.”
The unity between the Sanders campaign and the DNC is critical to helping Clinton in the general election. It comes after a rocky relationship between Sanders and former DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) throughout the Democratic primary.
That strained relationship grew more contentious after a published leak of hacked emails showed DNC officials seeking to tilt the scales in Clinton’s favor during the primary, which resulted in Wasserman Schultz’s ouster.
During the call, Brazile emphasized the need to help Democratic candidates in down-ballot races and state parties nationwide. She said she’s already kicked off fundraising for the DNC to help this effort and Weaver also said that the Sanders group Our Revolution has raised $300,000 for liberal Democrats down the ballot.
“Those races are so important, the sheriff races — we want to try to put Democrats in those races,” Brazile said. “We know what’s coming up in 2020. We know what’s coming up in 2018. I believe in the 50-state strategy.”