US: Establishment Democrats oppose Sanders' nomination

By Vakkas Dogantekin

ANKARA (AA) - Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who lost presidential bid to Republican nominee Donald Trump accused liberal senator Bernie Sanders of not doing enough to help her campaign in 2016.

Speaking to a radio show on Sunday, Clinton said she doesn't "hate" anyone when asked about the Vermont senator, yet, added that his late endorsement "hurt" her campaign against Trump.

In response to the accusation, the current Democratic presidential hopeful Sanders said he is "sorry that Hillary Clinton is rerunning 2016."

"I could take out a letter from Hillary Clinton saying, 'Thank you Bernie for working so hard to try to make me the president of the U.S.'," Sanders said in an interview with Iowa Press, aired on Sunday.

During her interview with radio host Howard Stern, Clinton made it obvious that she does not want to see Sanders as the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.

"He [Sanders] hurt me there's no doubt about it, and I hope he doesn't do it again to whoever gets the nomination. Once is enough," Clinton said, hinting an apathy for the 78-year-old lawmaker.

Sanders, along with senator Elizabeth Warren, and Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, is widely accepted as the progressive, liberal and grassroots leader within the Democratic Party opposing the establishment politics represented by former president Barack Obama, Joe Biden and the Clintons.

During a recent fundraiser, Obama has also reportedly voiced concern about the leftist leanings within the Democratic Party, alluding to a growing influence of Sanders among especially the young Democrats.

Sanders' team and allies have long criticized the main stream media, arguing that Sanders has been unfairly covered in the Democratic primary field at a time when he is placed second behind Biden, according to the RealClearPolitics national average of polls.

"The Bernie blackout is real -- it’s not a figment of our imagination," Nina Turner, co-chairwoman of Sanders' presidential campaign, told Hill.TV during an interview last week.

"I don’t want to see any candidate blacked out, but certainly not a candidate that is polling in the top one or two and certainly is in the top three of the candidates that could get the Democratic nomination," she said.

"It is wrong and the system is rigged," Turner added.