International

Bernie Sanders raises $6mn on first day of campaign…and former Clinton staffer blames Russia

21/02/2019

21 Feb, 2019

A former adviser to Hillary Clinton suggested that Russia is supporting Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, after the popular senator raised a whopping $6 million in the first 24 hours since announcing his 2020 campaign.

Sanders’ impressive first-day fundraising far outpaced that of California senator Kamala Harris, who raised $1.5 million on her first day and who has been billed by the media as the frontrunner in the Democratic primary race.

But the influx of donations to Sanders’ campaign rang alarm bells for former Clinton campaign staffer Adam Parkhomenko, who jumped on Twitter to quip that half of the people donating to the campaign were “named Vladimir.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refuses to back Bernie Sanders for 2020: ‘We’re not thinking at all about the next election’

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has refused to endorse Bernie Sanders for the 2020 Democratic nomination, despite working on the senator’s first presidential campaign.

A spokesperson for Ms Ocasio-Cortez, like Mr Sanders a self-described democratic socialist, refused to comment directly on the 77-year-old’s Tuesday announcement he is running for a second time.

“We’re excited to see so many progressives in the race,” spokesperson Corbin Trent said. “We’re not thinking at all about the next election.”

Any endorsement by Ms Ocasio-Cortez is likely to be influential on the outcome of the race, thanks to her massive support among the grassroots of the party.