Sen. Elizabeth Warren claimed Sen. Bernie Sanders “disagreed” that a woman could win in 2020, which Sanders strongly denied.
CNN first reported on Monday that Sanders privately told Warren in 2018 that a woman could not win, citing four unnamed sources who were not in the room.
Warren "laid out two main reasons she believed she would be a strong candidate," but Sanders "responded that he did not believe a woman could win,” CNN reported.
Sanders denies report:
"It is ludicrous to believe that at the same meeting where Elizabeth Warren told me she was going to run for president, I would tell her that a woman couldn't win," Sanders told CNN. "It's sad that three weeks before the Iowa caucus and a year after that private conversation, staff who weren't in the room are lying about what happened.”
“What I did say that night was that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could,” he added. “Do I believe a woman can win in 2020? Of course. After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes in 2016."
Warren says Bernie did say it:
"Bernie and I met for more than two hours in December 2018 to discuss the 2020 election, our past work together and our shared goals: beating Donald Trump, taking back our government from the wealthy and well-connected and building an economy that works for everyone," Warren said in a statement. "Among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate. I thought a woman could win; he disagreed."
"I have no interest in discussing this private meeting any further, because Bernie and I have far more in common than our differences on punditry," she added.
But a Washington Post report that came out after her statement added more questions about what was said.
"Two people with knowledge of the conversation at the 2018 dinner at Warren's home told The Washington Post that Warren brought up the issue by asking Sanders whether he believed a woman could win," The Post reported. "One of the people with knowledge of the conversation said Sanders did not say a woman couldn't win but rather that Trump would use nefarious tactics against the Democratic nominee."
