Bernie Sanders hit the Hillary Clinton campaign for playing dirty throughout the presidential primary race, calling her lead super PAC operative David Brock "the scum of the Earth" in a candid interview with Time published Thursday.
Sanders accused Clinton of distorting his record on issues ranging from the Wall Street bailout to gun control through the pro-Clinton PAC Correct the Record, which is run by Brock.
"There are a lot of decent people who know how to raise money from rich people. That run a super PAC," Sanders said, criticizing Clinton’s hiring of Brock.
He alluded to Brock’s takedown of Anita Hill in the early 1990s after she accused Justice Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings of sexual harassment.
Brock in 1993 authored "The Real Anita Hill" that he said detailed her "true motives" in accusing Thomas. He later said the book was a lie intended to destroy Hill’s credibility to protect Thomas’ reputation.
Sanders told Time:
I don’t have anybody on my staff who has spent his life as an attack dog who has gone about trying to destroy political opponents. And I think that should make people. They play very dirty … Their response is look, that’s the world we live in, that’s what you gotta do. I understand that. I don’t think that’s what you gotta do. I don’t think you hire scum of the Earth to be on your team just because the other side does it. You gotta play in a little bit different way.
Sanders also implied that the former secretary of state would be a weak competitor to take on Republican nominee Donald Trump.
"That a person like [Donald Trump] is actually beating or close to Hillary Clinton in national polls is pathetic," Sanders said.
Clinton maintains a significant delegate lead over the Vermont senator. Still, Sanders has vowed to continue his campaign until the Democratic National Convention on July 28.