Sanders Says Senate Trial Puts Him at ‘Disadvantage’ to Biden

(Bloomberg) -- Bernie Sanders lamented that being stuck in Washington for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is putting him “at a disadvantage“ to former Vice President Joe Biden in Iowa.

In an interview with “The CBS Evening News With Norah O’Donnell,” the Vermont senator said it was “disappointing” his “constitutional responsibility” to sit through the Senate trial is keeping him off the campaign trail in the final days before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3.

“I mean, he and others, not just Biden, are able to go out, talk to people,” he said in the interview to be broadcast Friday evening. “That’s really important.”

In recent weeks, Sanders and Biden have been at the top of most polls in Iowa. Talking up a disadvantage gives Sanders an excuse if he doesn’t do as well as expected, or an extra reason to brag if he does. “We had set up a number of town meetings all over the state,” he said. “We usually bring out good crowds. So it is disappointing to me not to be in Iowa talking to the people there.”

Other senators running for the Democratic nomination are also missing out on face time in Iowa to sit through the impeachment trial, including Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren. 

(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

This post is part of Campaign Update, our live coverage from the 2020 campaign trail.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley

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