Sen. Bernie Sanders insisted that he has no regrets about his initial stance standing by disgraced oyster farmer Graham Platner despite an avalanche of warning signs.
Sanders (I-Vt.) had been among Platner’s earliest backers, catapulting him to prominence with his endorsement shortly after the oyster farmer jumped in the race for Maine’s Senate seat.
“No, I don’t think so,” Sanders told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday when asked about whether he had regrets for not abandoning Platner sooner.
The self-described democratic socialist had stuck with Platner during a string of scandals, defending him after revelations emerged that he made unsavory social media posts, cheated on his wife, got a tattoo of a Nazi symbol — and even when several women accused him of sexual misconduct.
When pressed about those scandals, Sanders often pointed to the outside money being spent against Platner and framed him as a champion of the working class.
After a bombshell Politico story broke earlier this month detailing the rape accusations against him from Jenny Racicot, Sanders waited a day before publicly calling on him to drop out of the race.
“When we heard the serious allegations made against him, I wanted to get on the phone,” Sanders explained. “I wanted to talk to him. I did. I asked, along with virtually all his supporters, that he should get out of the race, and he did.”
Democrats have now anointed former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson as Platner’s replacement nominee to take on incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
Sanders had backed Jackson in the Democratic primary for governor, but the former logger ultimately finished in third place.
“I’ve known Troy for many years,” the senator said. “What he understands is that the people of Maine are sick and tired of a rigged economy, in which the billionaire class is getting richer and richer, where we have more income and wealth inequality today than we’ve ever had in the history of this country.
“I think he stands an excellent chance to win,” Sanders added. “The problem…is that the oligarchs, the billionaire class, are throwing unbelievable amounts of money into these campaigns to protect the establishment candidates.”
When pressed by CBS anchor Margaret Brennan on whether his endorsements, including Jackson and Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, were properly vetted, the Vermont Independent admitted they might not be.
“There are hundreds of candidates. I don’t know who has been ‘fully vetted,’” Sanders replied.
“The candidates that we are supporting are standing up for the working class of this country,” he continued. “I and other progressives … are generating enormous grassroots excitement and enthusiasm.”
