Margaret Brennan Confronts Bernie Sanders On Scandal-Plagued Graham Platner: ‘Do You Regret Not Acting Earlier?’

CBS News’s Margaret Brennan confronted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) about not dropping his support for scandal-plagued U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) earlier than he did.

On Sunday’s Face The Nation, Brennan asked, “You were an early supporter in Maine of Graham Platner. You helped him rise. Do you regret not acting earlier to call for him to drop out, given the warning signs? Would that have given you a leg up with [Troy] Jackson?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Sanders said. “When we heard the serious allegations made against him, I wanted to get on the phone, I wanted to talk to him. I did. I asked, along with virtually all of his supporters, that he should get out of the race, and he did.”

“But you are confident that with your endorsements, these other candidates have been fully vetted?” Brennan asked.

“Well, look, I think, you know, there are hundreds of candidates,” Sanders answered. “I don’t know who has, quote, unquote, ‘been fully vetted’…All I know is, Margaret, the candidates that we are supporting are standing up for the working class of this country.”

Earlier in the interview, Sanders said he believed Jackson had an “excellent” chance of beating incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) because his message resonates with Mainers.

“I think he can [win]…I’ve known Troy for many years,” Sanders said, continuing:

What he understands that, the people of Maine are sick and tired of a rigged economy in which the billionaire class is getting richer and richer, where we have more income and wealth inequality today than we’ve ever had in the history of this country, while 60% of our people, including in Maine, including in Vermont, all over this country, are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to put food on the table, trying to pay for health care, for housing, put aside a few bucks retirement. Troy understand that. He’s a working-class guy. He’s from the working class. He is very articulate. I think he stands an excellent chance to win.

Watch the clip above via Face The Nation on CBS.

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