"McCarthyite tactics" by David Brock's pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC Correct The Record on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) turned out to be the "worst of both worlds" for the Clinton campaign, Morning Joe panelist Mark Halperin said Friday.
The Huffington Post reported Correct the Record circulated an email trying to tie Sanders with far-left Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn of the United Kingdom, who has praised the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and called the killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden a "tragedy." Brock appeared on Halperin's Bloomberg show With All Due Respect on Tuesday and would not apologize for the attacks, calling it "standard opposition research."
MSNBC reported Sanders turned the critical email into a win for his campaign, raising more than $1.2 million in less than 48 hours. The report noted that, unlike most super PACS, Brock's outfit coordinates directly with the Clinton campaign.
Host Joe Scarborough said Halperin had warned earlier in the campaign that attacks against Sanders would backfire.
"Particularly ones like this, McCarthyite tactics, where the campaign isn't willing to stand up and say-- or the super PAC --this is what we're saying," Halperin said. "I interviewed David Brock, who's associated with that group the other day, and asked him repeatedly, 'What are you saying about Bernie Sanders? What's your point?' And he wouldn't say. For me, it's an illustration of the worst of both worlds for them. Bernie Sanders raises money off it, gets the high ground. I don't think they did any damage to him whatsoever."
"You call it McCarthyite tactics?" host Joe Scarborough asked.
"Yeah," Halperin replied.
Sanders, a longshot candidate when he began his campaign in the spring, has turned out to be Clinton's main rival for the Democratic nomination, drawing huge crowds around the country with his far-left, populist rhetoric and beating her in the polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire.