Facing critiques on his lack of foreign policy knowledge, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) named one man who he said advises him on foreign affairs. But that individual says Sanders has only spoken with him once.
Sanders has in the past cited Dr. Lawrence J. Korb, a senior fellow at the left wing Center for American Progress, as an advisor on international relations.
But Korb tells Politico that he’s only spoken to Sanders once during the Vermont Senator’s current presidential run.
“I was asked to go over and speak with him just once, which I did,” he told Politico, in a piece published Sunday afternoon. “I am not involved in [Sanders’] campaign or anybody’s.”
Korb served in the military, retiring with the rank of Captain, and later served as Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration. His new outfit, the Center for American Progress, is largely made up of Hillary Clinton supporters and allies.
Sen. Sanders was asked during a recent CNN appearance to name any generals or high-ranking defense officials, current or past, he seeks advice from on national security issues.
“Look, we have been talking in the last month to, you know, many, many, many people who are very knowledgeable about national security issues and foreign policy issues. And I am confident that we have the judgment and the experience to do what has to be done for the American people,” he responded.
CNN correspondent Jake Tapper then asked the Senator to give him a specific name.
“There are too many … Larry Korb is one,” he replied.
The Vermont Senator has had a tough time grasping basic foreign policy concepts.
In a July interview with Vox, Sanders revealed he had never acquired an understanding of elementary international relations theory.
“I don’t know what that word means,” he responded when asked if he was a “realist.”
On his campaign website, Sanders has pledged to show “strength through diplomacy,” advocating force only as a “last resort.”
His other foreign policy goals include closing Guantanamo Bay, advocating for “fair trade,” not free trade, “addressing global climate change, providing humanitarian relief and economic assistance, defending the rule of law, and promoting human rights.”