PURCHASE, N.Y. – Hillary Clinton gave a spirited defense Thursday of her campaign proposals and her lead in the Democratic primaries after she was disrupted by a group of Bernie Sanders supporters in the runup to her home state’s primary.
A few minutes into Clinton’s remarks on the campus of Purchase College, about 20 Sanders supporters shouted, “If she wins, we lose,” and then began walking out. Clinton responded sharply, “The Bernie people came to say that. We’re very sorry you’re leaving,” as the crowd chanted, “I’m with her!”
The sharp exchange came in the days before Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary and next month’s New York primary, where Clinton is favored because of her deep ties to the state. The former New York senator holds a formidable lead among delegates but Sanders hopes a series of recent victories out West might turn into a springboard for a win in Wisconsin.
It also offered a vivid example of Clinton’s gulf with some young Democrats, who have brought energy to the Vermont senator’s upstart bid.
SORRY THEY ‘WON’T LISTEN TO ANYBODY ELSE’
Clinton said she regretted that the young Sanders supporters “won’t listen to anybody else” and didn’t want to hear “the contrast between my experience, my plans, my vision, what I know I can get done and what my opponent is promising.”
Sanders “goes around telling young people that he’s going to give them free college. Well, I wish it were so,” Clinton said. She said the “fine print” of his plan would require governors to pay a significant share of the cost, an unlikely outcome in a state like Wisconsin, which is led by Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
“I just wish that there were an opportunity to actually talk and listen to each other because we’ve got to unite when this primary contest is over,” Clinton said. “We’ve got to unite and make sure we have a Democrat in the White House.”
Sanders campaigned in Pittsburgh, ahead of Pennsylvania’s April 26 primary, joining activists with the United Steelworkers union and the letter carriers union to criticize Clinton’s past support of certain trade deals.
He called for “a moral economy, not an economy based on greed and selfishness,” a message that he has used in manufacturing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. Sanders said that even when factories don’t close, the trade agreements relegate workers in a “race to the bottom,” with corporations going to unions and forcing them to make concessions under threat of moving out of the country.
SANDERS CAMPAIGN RAISES $40 MILLION
Sanders campaign said he had raised more than $40 million in March and was aiming to surpass $43.5 million for the month. Both campaigns face monthly fundraising deadlines at the end of the day.
In New York, Clinton reiterated her critique of Sanders’ “Medicare for all” plan, saying it would force Congress to “start all over again” on health care reform. She also rebuked Republican Donald Trump for saying that women should be “punished” for having an abortion, comments he quickly backtracked from.
Clinton also noted an MSNBC interview in which Sanders suggested Trump’s comments were a distraction from serious issues. “To me this is a very serious issue and it is a very serious discussion,” Clinton said.
Clinton’s event held some nostalgia for the former first lady and secretary of state, who formally launched her Senate campaign on the campus in February 2000 and lives in nearby Chappaqua. She was introduced by Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, who noted that Clinton was her “constituent.”
Associated Press writer Joe Mandak contributed to this report from Pittsburgh.
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