Bernie Sanders Says ‘It Would Be Silly’ to Promise Person of Color as Running Mate Right Now

Independent Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders continues to say he will strongly consider naming a woman as his running mate, but when asked the same question about about naming a person of color, Sanders said it would be “silly to make that statement right now.”

During an interview that aired on Sunday morning’s edition of ABC’s This Week, Jonathan Karl concluded with a lightning round that included asking Sanders his thoughts on the diversity of his potential ticket.

“Cory Booker says he will name a woman as his running mate, will you make the same pledge?” Karl asked.

“I would give very serious consideration to that,” Sanders replied.

“Person of color?” Karl asked.

“I think it’s premature,” Sanders said, after a pause of several seconds.

“It would be silly to make that statement right now,” he added.

“You can’t give us your shortlist right now?” Karl asked, to laughter from Sanders.

In the past, Sanders has derided what he calls “identity politics” — which he describes as candidates who say things like “I’m a Latina, vote for me!” but not those who proclaim that they’re from the “white working class” — and began his campaign complaining that his opponents want candidates “who are black or white, who are black or Latino or woman or gay, regardless of what they stand for.”

But in February, Sanders told The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur that he would be looking for a younger woman to share the ticket, just hours after complaining, in another interview, that selecting a candidate based on traits like gender is “discriminatory.”

Sanders did not think it was “silly” to say he would like to select a woman as his running mate at this point. Why he thinks it’s silly to answer the same question regarding a person of color is a question for another interview.

Watch the clip above, via ABC.