Political pundit James Carville said on MSNBC on Saturday that the media is not doing enough to educate voters on the “risks” involved should Bernie Sanders win the Democratic nomination.
Carville said that Sanders had emerged as a clear frontrunner in the presidential race as early numbers came in from the Nevada caucuses. But he warned that as we rapidly approach the South Carolina primary and Super Tuesday, the media needs to let voters know “what’s going on.”
“I don’t know if us in the media are sufficiently telling people what are the risks that you are running by doing this. I think voters need to really be appraised of what’s going on here. Hopefully, these candidates have the skill and are able to do this,” Carville told MSNBC’s Brian Williams.
Carville added that he doesn’t think the media has properly “vetted” Sanders as a candidate and that he gets “any number of calls from panicked Congressional incumbents” concerned about the state of the election.
“It’s obvious he’s the frontrunner. It’s obvious these other candidates have not sufficiently talked about him. It’s obvious that he’s never been vetted in the press. I’m not seeing the full-part series in The New York Times or The Washington Post or NBC News,” Carville said. “We’re in a whole new ball game here, and this game could end a little after mid-March, and some candidates are going to have to make really hard decisions about who stays in and who gets out and where we go from here.”
Carville chided voters who believe that Sanders will win the general election by galvanizing a group of Americans who don’t usually turn out to vote, saying that belief is akin to “climate denial.”
“The entire theory that by expanding the electorate and increasing the turnout that you can win the election is the equivalent of climate denial. When people say that, they’re as stupid to political science is as to a climate denier to an atmospheric science,” he said. “If you’re voting for him because you think he’ll galvanize heretofore sleepy parts of the electorate, then politically you’re a fool. And that’s just a fact.”
Earlier in the day, Carville told MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace that the big winner of Saturday’s Nevada caucus is Vladimir Putin, referencing a report from earlier this week that Sanders was briefed by U.S. officials that Russia was trying to help his political campaign. Carville was careful to say he does not believe Sanders is colluding with Russia or is welcoming the interference from Putin, but that Putin is backing the Vermont senator in the hopes it could help Donald Trump win re-election.
“The happiest person right now, it’s about 1:15 AM Moscow time? This thing is going very well for Vladimir Putin,” Carville said. “But the story is a fact, and the reason that the story is a fact is Putin is doing everything he can to help Trump, including trying to get Bernie Sanders the nomination.”
Watch clips of Carville’s appearances below:
James Carville: Putin is trying to help Sen. Sanders because Putin wants President Trump to win. It's a straight line.
"I don't think Sanders wants Putin to help … I think they don't like this story, but the story is a fact." pic.twitter.com/YxOLhSACtA
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 22, 2020
As @BernieSanders is primed 4 big #NevadaCaucus victory, @JamesCarville calls for media 2 interfere in 2020 election 2 warn Americans of the "risk" of Sanders.
"I don't know if us in the media are sufficiently telling people what are the risks that you're running by doing this" pic.twitter.com/L9bVWrJJ1x
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) February 22, 2020
Carville also, with a straight face, claims @BernieSanders hasn't been vetted by the media. pic.twitter.com/fZQ80ubKFf
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) February 22, 2020