Bernie Sanders apologizes amid new allegation of staff harassment

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday apologized to women who have shared experiences of harassment by male supervisors while working on his 2016 presidential campaign, a controversy that raises questions about a potential second run in 2020.

The Vermont independent said on Capitol Hill that the alleged misconduct by male aides “was absolutely unacceptable and certainly not what a progressive campaign or any campaign should be about.” He said that rhetoric about “ending sexism and ending all forms of discrimination … cannot just be words.”

“To women in our campaign who were harassed or mistreated, I apologize,” Sanders said.

Politico reported Wednesday that a former Sanders adviser, Robert Becker, had forcibly kissed a female subordinate in mid-2016. Becker denies the allegation.

Sanders said he was unaware of the alleged misconduct by Becker, who has recently traveled in a bid to bolster a possible 2020 presidential campaign by the senator. Sanders also said he wasn’t aware of a reported $30,000 settlement to resolve a discrimination claim against his 2016 campaign.

The New York Times has also reported on multiple claims of mistreatment against female Sanders campaign aides by senior male officials.

In his initial response this month to female campaign aides who had come forward about their harassment, Sanders told CNN he didn’t know about the allegations in 2016 because “I was little bit busy running around the country trying to make the case.” He projected more contrition on Thursday, saying that “our standards, our procedures, our safeguards, were clearly inadequate.”