View co-host Whoopi Goldberg on Wednesday asked Bernie Sanders why he’s still in the race for president, suggesting he was performing a repeat of 2016, when he refused to concede the primary to Hillary Clinton and took a month to endorse her after he did.
Said Goldberg: “I’m told that you intend to stay in this race because you believe there is a path to victory. I want to know what that path is. Because this feels a little bit like it did when you didn’t come out when Hillary Clinton was clearly the person folks were going for, so can you explain why you’re still in the race, and what this path is that you see?”
Replied Sanders: “That’s not quite accurate, I worked as hard as I could to, for Hillary Clinton.”
Replied Goldberg: “But Bernie, just so we’re clear. You worked for Hillary, but it took you a very very long time to hop in, and your people also took a very long time for them to hop in, so when I say that, that’s what I’m talking about.”
“Well I don’t accept that characterization, but the point is,” continued Sanders.
“Okay, why are you still in the race?”
Replied Sanders: “People have a right, last I heard, people in a democracy have a right to vote. And they have a right to vote for the agenda that they think can work for America, especially in this very very difficult moment. We are assessing our campaign as a matter of fact, where we want to go forward, but people in a democracy do have a right to vote, and right now in this unprecedented moment in American history, I think we need to have a very serious discussion about how they go forward.”
In a separate interview with NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell, Sanders called on Wisconsin to delay its primary: “We don’t want people to have to risk their lives in order to cast a vote. That’s a dangerous situation. Let’s, if we can avoid that, avoid it.”
