Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., got up during a pre-taped ABC ‘This Week’ interview that aired Sunday, and accused Jonathan Karl of asking a ‘nonsense’ question about whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., should run for Senate.
Right after calling Ocasio-Cortez ‘extraordinary,’ Sanders would not answer a question about whether he would like to see her in the Senate. Speculation has ramped up about AOC challenging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a primary after Schumer supported a government funding bill to avoid a partial shutdown.
‘Right now, we have, as I said, just a whole lot of people in the Congress. OK, Jonathan. Thanks,’ Sanders said as he got up from his seat.
Karl told the senator that he had one more question for him.
‘Well, I ask you – you know, you want to do nonsense, do nonsense. No, I don’t want to talk about inside the Beltway stuff. I got 32,000 people,’ Sanders said, referencing the crowd that gathered Friday in Denver for an event with AOC.
Karl convinced Sanders to come back and sit down.
‘Well, fine. But I don’t want to talk about this. What was the last question?’ Sanders asked.
Karl then asked about Sanders’ future in politics.
‘Right now, I am very proud that the people of the state of Vermont sent me back to the Senate with 63% of the vote,’ Sander said. ‘Right now I’m Vermont’s senator. That’s what I do, and I’m very happy to do it. I am 83 years of age, so. And I’m tired.’
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., spoke on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ whether he would encourage Ocasio-Cortez to challenge Schumer.
‘She’s perfectly capable of making the decision,’ he said. ‘She’s got so many options. She’s got an incredible future. You know, it’s really her decision. But, you know, all I can say is there’s real anger. And there would be a lot of support for her if she decided to do it.’