Sanders: ‘We have the guts to be honest with the American people’

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders sought Monday to shore up support among minority voters as he battles front-runner Hillary Clinton ahead of next week’s New York primary. 

During a campaign rally in Albany, N.Y., Sanders discussed a lack of jobs for African-American and Hispanic youth, a “broken” criminal justice system and images of unarmed people being killed by police.

{mosads}”We have got to put an end to that,” Sanders said, alluding to an issue he’s raised in ads mentioning Eric Garner, the black man whose police-involved chokehold death in 2014 in Staten Island sparked protests.

“I do not want people, people of color, walking the streets, fearful of what may happen to them,” Sanders said. “This is America. We can do better than that.”

Clinton holds a big delegate lead and is aiming for a win in New York to blunt a winning streak by the independent Vermont senator, who has had victories in seven of the past eight state contests. Sanders on Monday pointed to recent national polls to tout his general election potential.

“This is a campaign, in national poll after national poll, that is defeating Donald Trump by double digits,” Sanders said, referring to the Republican presidential front-runner. “And the reason that this campaign is doing as well as it is is because we have the guts to be honest with the American people and tell the truth.

“Whether it is our personal lives or our political life, the truth is not always easy to take. But unless we deal with the reality of America today, we will not have the future we require,” he said.

Sanders’s Monday rally came as Clinton sought to keep the focus on his record on guns. Meanwhile, he focused on her Wall Street speeches, vote for the Iraq War and big-money campaign donations.

Sanders ripped Wall Street companies, describing Goldman Sachs as part of a “fraudulent organization.” Later in his speech, during an extended riff against Clinton’s paid speeches on Wall Street, Sanders noted she “gave three speeches [to] Goldman Sachs.”

Sanders also knocked Clinton over her 2002 vote for the Iraq War, which she has since called a mistake, saying, “She voted for that disastrous war.” He then suggested a link between the funding for the war and tax breaks for wealthier Americans with funding for inner cities.

“Brothers and sisters, if we make it to the White House, we are going to change our national priorities. We’re gonna rebuild inner cities,” Sanders said.