Failed presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) expressed “very, very strong concerns” over the choice of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to be President-elect Donald Trump’s Attorney General.
Some Senate Democrats have made it clear that they plan to resist Sessions.
Demarquin Johnson, a Harvard Law School student who vote for Hillary Clinton, asked Sanders during a CNN town hall at George Washington University whether he will oppose Sessions’ confirmation “in light of Senator Sessions’s history of attacking the Voting Rights Act.”
“I’m going to listen to what Jeff Sessions has to say,” Sanders said. “I’ve known Jeff for many, many years. But I have very, very strong concerns. And I think the issue you raise about the Voting Rights Act and how the Supreme Court a few years ago gutted the Voting Rights Act and that right now in state after state, Republican states, what they are doing, this is really kind of unbelievable when you think about it.”
“They’re working overtime, not to expand democracy, not to bring more people into the political process. They are trying to make it harder for people to vote under the guise of voter fraud.” Sanders added, “Thank God in America voter fraud is very, very rare.”
The 2008 election that saw President Barack Obama’s victory was rife with voter fraud; a point that President Obama has himself admitted and that that leaked WikiLeaks emails revealed the Hillary Clinton camp expressed concern over leading up to the November 8 General Election.
“But they’re using that argument to make it harder for poor people, for old people, for people of color to vote,” Sanders said. “I consider this to be one of the most significant issues facing our country… OK. So I will listen very, very carefully to what Senator Sessions has to say, but I share your concerns.”
Later in the town hall, Sanders indirectly admit that he has no intention of voting for Sessions, saying, “all that I am doing here is trying to be polite.” CNN’s Chris Cuomo, who interviewed Sanders asked, “I’m still confused, are you going to vote against them or are you going to vote for them?” of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, including Sessions.
“Well, I’m just saying, before I vote against them, I want to hear what they have to say,” Sanders said.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz
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