Appearing Friday on CNN’s New Day, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D- SC) said House Democrats fear Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will cause “down-ballot carnage” if he wins the party’s nomination for president in 2020.
(Start at 2:09)
A partial transcript is as follows:
JOHN BERMAN: Part of your day job — or, I should say, your Washington-based job — is as the whip in the House of Representatives. As the number three member of the Democratic caucus, you talk to members each and every day inside your party. What concerns are you hearing from the Democratic caucus in the House about potentially, Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, at the top of the ticket?
REP. CLYBURN: I talk to members on both sides of our political equation, some people who are very progressive, some people who are relatively moderate… I talked to the faith community down there and they were very, very concerned about whether or not we will have somebody on the ticket that will cause down-ballot carnage. That’s our biggest problem for my members, we want to see somebody on the ticket that will allow us to expand our numbers, not having to run some kind of a rearguard campaign to avoid from being tarnished with a label.