On Wednesday night, Bernie Sanders met with a group of former staffers who’d came forward with numerous accounts of assault, harassment, and pay inequality staffers and volunteers faced during Sanders’ 2016 campaign for president.
According to Politico, Sanders was joined by his wife and adviser Jane Sanders, and the meeting was facilitated by a trio of consultants. The consultants told Politico they plan to speak with campaign staffers and volunteers who were unable to attend Wednesday’s meeting and publicly share their ideas for structural improvement in the future.
Details from the meeting are scarce so far. Media was not allowed inside the room and afterwards Sanders declined to comment, telling a CNN reporter the discussion was “private.” Speaking anonymously, one attendee told Politico it “went as well as it could have.” A person identified as a campaign official informed the outlet that nearly all of Sanders’ senior campaign and current staff officials attended the meeting.
More than two dozen former staffers requested the meeting in late December. Before the sit down, Sanders had publicly addressed the issue twice, both times prompted by reports of assault and harassment being published in the press. He was first asked about the harassment claims during a televised interview with Anderson Cooper, and was confronted a week later following a Politico report that detailed the story of a senior member of the campaign assaulting another campaign staffer. In both instances, Sanders spoke about his pride in the 2016 campaign before offering an apology to the staffers affected. Sanders also denied any prior knowledge of the misconduct.
If you have any details about what happened at Wednesday’s meeting, or if you have a similar story to share from the 2016 trail, feel free to contact us.