CNN’s Chris Cuomo Torches Bernie Sanders Campaign’s Entire Case Against Hillary

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-chris-cuomo-torches-bernie-sanders-campaigns-entire-case-against-hillary/

by Tommy Christopher

CNN giveth, and CNN taketh away. After Bernie Sanders whiffed at last Thursday’s debate when he was asked to provide a single example of money influencing Hillary Clinton‘s decisions, CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny helpfully provided Sanders with an attack line that he gingerly tried to roll out in subsequent interviews. On Thursday morning’s edition of New Day, however, anchor Chris Cuomo casually knocked the teeth out of that argument as he was interviewing Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver, as evidenced by the fact that Weaver immediately abandoned it.

At issue was former Secretary of State and then-New York Senator Clinton’s support for a 2005 bankruptcy bill, the lone example that has ever been offered to support Sanders’ claim that big donations and/or speaking fees have influenced her:

Cuomo: The senator has chances, not just here on “New Day” but also during the debate, to say, well, what can you point to that gives you this cause for concern with Hillary Clinton when it comes to any money sources? And I’ve got to tell you, the responses have not been great from him. You can’t point to anything other than the bankruptcy bill, and that was a long time ago, and there were a lot of reasons why that went through, with a lot of Democrats. Where’s the there there?

Weaver: There’s a lot of there there. The secretary supported almost every bad trade deal that’s come down the pike. Senator Sanders has opposed almost every one. And the impact of money on politics is not like, I give you ten dollars and then you give me a vote. That would be illegal and no one’s alleging that anybody did anything illegal, but what happens is it colors your view of things, you give access to people to present their case that regular people don’t have in the process, things move your way in terms of regulations, this is the way the process works.

In fact, the first time Bernie Sanders tried to roll out the bankruptcy bill attack, while trying to lay it off on Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton responded with an explanation that sounded a lot like Sanders’ own defense of his vote for the 1994 crime bill, that she leveraged her support in order to add provisions that protected women and children:

The bill she supported didn’t pass, but when it came up for a vote in 2005, Hillary missed the vote, and put out a statement in opposition to the bill.

As for trade, the media and the Sanders campaign have a habit of conflating Hillary’s own voting record and stated political positions with statements of support that she has made while First Lady or Secretary of State, roles in which such statements are more a reflection of the role than anything else. Of course she spoke encouragingly about the Trans Pacific Partnership while she was helping to negotiate it, but when the final deal was made public, years after that, she opposed it. Bernie Sanders loves to talk about his D-minus rating from the NRA, but the libertarian CATO Institute gives Bernie and Hillary the exact same grade on trade based on their respective congressional voting records.

Weaver says he and the Sanders campaign intend to continue the same level of attacks on Hillary Clinton, but if the media will do their jobs the way Chris Cuomo did, they’re more than welcome to try.

(Videos in link)