Sanders says it’s ‘disappointing’ he’s not on campaign trail in Iowa

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday called it “disappointing” that he is not on the campaign trail in Iowa in the final weeks before the caucuses due to the ongoing impeachment trial.

“Obviously, when we were planning out our schedule, trust me, we were not expecting to be in Washington this week,” Sanders said in an interview airing Friday on “CBS Evening News.”

“We had set up a number of town meetings all over the state — we usually bring out good crowds — so it is disappointing to me to not be in Iowa talking to the people there,” he added.

Sanders argued that the time puts him “at a disadvantage,” acknowledging that others such as former Vice President Joe Biden are still able to hit the campaign trail in the Hawkeye State.

NEW: 2020 presidential candidate Sen. @BernieSanders (I-VT) tells @NorahODonnell that the Senate impeachment trial, necessitating his presence in Washington, D.C., places him “at a disadvantage” ahead of the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3; watch more tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. pic.twitter.com/l8WErwfHpV

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 24, 2020

Sanders is scheduled to attend a rally in Iowa on Saturday night and campaign in the state the next day after being forced to scrap a campaign event earlier this week due to the Senate trial against President Trump.

All 100 senators are required to be in Washington, D.C., during the day for six days a week during the trial, which kicked off in earnest on Tuesday. House impeachment managers making the case for removing Trump from office presented their arguments over the past three days, while White House lawyers are slated to offer their defense of the president starting Saturday and into next week.

Sanders is expected to appear at his rally in Ames on Saturday night alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and filmmaker Michael Moore. Ocasio-Cortez, Moore and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), a co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who recently endorsed Sanders, are also slated to appear at a town hall for Sanders in Cedar Falls earlier in the day.

Three of Sanders’s opponents in the Democratic primary — Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) — are also sitting through the impeachment trial.

Sanders told reporters last week that he was concerned about missing key time on the campaign trail. When asked on Friday, Sanders said he believes this extra time gives several of his opponents an upper hand. 

“Politically, in the last week or so of the campaign? Yeah, I think it does,” he said when asked if he thought the trial schedule benefitted Biden.

“He and others, not just Biden, are able to go out, talk to people, that’s really important.”