"Women Cannot Win the Presidential Election" ... A Remark That Dropped a Bombshell in the US Democratic Primary

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] "Women cannot win the presidential election."

This statement caused a major stir in the US Democratic presidential primary. On the 13th (local time), CNN reported, citing sources, that Senator Bernie Sanders allegedly said this to Senator Elizabeth Warren in a private setting. The two, known to be longtime friends, showed signs of a direct confrontation ahead of the official presidential candidate primary race, which is expected to have a significant impact on the Democratic presidential primary.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a candidate in the US Democratic presidential primary election
[Photo by Reuters]

According to the report, the two met one evening in December 2018 at Senator Warren's apartment and discussed the upcoming presidential election. At that time, they talked about how the two would ultimately not face each other in the US presidential election, agreed to refrain from attacking each other, and emphasized not harming progressive politics. It was during this conversation that Senator Sanders reportedly made the problematic remark.

After the report was released, Senator Sanders denied the statement, saying, "A close aide of candidate Warren is lying about what happened at that time."

However, Senator Warren later refuted this. She stated, "We talked for two hours about the next presidential election," and added, "During the conversation, when the topic of what might happen if a female candidate were nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate came up, I said a female candidate could win, but Senator Sanders did not agree." However, Senator Warren said, "I do not want to elaborate further on the private conversation," and added, "There are more similarities than differences between Senator Sanders and me." She continued, "He is a friend and ally," and said, "We will continue to cooperate to defeat US President Donald Trump."

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential primary candidate [Photo by Reuters]

The New York Times (NYT) interpreted Senator Warren's statement as revealing a surprising 'gap' in her relationship with Senator Sanders. The two are leading candidates in the Democratic presidential primary along with former Vice President Joe Biden. Especially, the two are known for their strong progressive stances and have been noted to share overlapping support bases.

Senator Sanders said, "It is sad that a conversation from over a year ago is coming out just three weeks before the primary," and added, "Someone who was not present at the conversation is lying about what happened." He further stated, "If you ask whether a woman can win this year's US presidential election, of course she can," and mentioned, "Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received 3 million more votes than President Trump in the last election."

Progressive circles are concerned about the clash between the leading presidential candidates. The progressive group Democracy for America tweeted, "Both candidates are champions of the progressive camp," and urged, "They should not attack each other but cooperate."