Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said Wednesday he is not interested in playing the blame game when it comes to the 2016 presidential election, the Democratic Party's loss, and Hillary Clinton's criticism of him in her new book.
Sanders said that he would rather focus on the legislative challenges at hand and not debate who is to blame for President Donald Trump’s upset of Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, the Hill reported.
Clinton’s book, "What Happened," is a memoir outlining her role in the 2016 race and her perspective on why she lost. In the book, set to be released Sept. 12, she describes multiple reasons why she lost the election. In a segment shared on Twitter Monday, she explained one of those reasons; namely, the "lasting damage" caused by fellow Democratic candidate Sanders during the primaries.
"My response is that right now it’s appropriate to look forward and not backward," Sanders told the Hill. "I’m working overtime now to see we overturn Trump’s decision on DACA, pass a $15-an-hour minimum wage, and next week I’ll be offering a Medicare-for-all single-payer system."
"Our job is to go forward," Sanders added.
In her book, Clinton argues that Sanders laid the groundwork for Trump’s "crooked Hillary" campaign attack by questioning her character through "innuendo."
"His [Sanders] attacks caused lasting damage, making it harder to unify progressives in the general election," Clinton wrote.
She also accused Sanders of being a "serial over-promiser." Clinton said Sanders copied her ideas and then made them "bigger" to make them more attractive to liberal voters.
When asked about specific allegations, Sanders said, "I’ll let the people decide."