Sanders: ‘Not my impression’ DNC was trying to hurt campaign

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), one of two top Democratic presidential candidates coming out of the chaotic Iowa caucuses, said on Sunday that doesn’t think the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was trying to hurt his campaign with a call for a recanvass. 

“I have no idea and we’re going to monitor to the situation,” Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” when asked if he thinks the party is trying to hinder his campaign.

“But that’s not my impression at this moment,” Sanders added. 

Sanders also said what happened in Iowa was “an embarrassment” and a “disgrace to the good people of Iowa.” 

“They screwed it up very badly is what the Iowa Democratic Party did but at the end of the day to me what is most important,” he said, adding that his campaign is “confident” that it “did in fact win.” 

Sanders’s comments come after his campaign co-chair, Nina Turner, said the call for a recanvass by DNC Chair Tom Perez looks “fairly intentional.” 

“It does look fairly intentional and I really feel bad for the people of Iowa who take great pride in the caucus process—they were robbed,” Turner told progressive media company Status Coup. 

After a delay in results the state party blamed on issues with an app, Sanders was found to be in dead heat with former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg for first place in Iowa with 100 percent of caucus results reported last Thursday. 

Both candidates have claimed victory in the first-in-the-nation vote. 

Buttigieg leads by a narrow margins with 26.2 percent among Iowa state delegate equivalents, while Sanders closely trails at 26.1 percent. Sanders, however, has stressed that he won the popular vote in Iowa.