Today, Joel Benenson, Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist, made the far-out assertion that Bernie Sanders is running the “most negative campaign of any Democratic presidential candidate … in a presidential primary season.”

HRC strategist @benensonj says Sanders is running the "most negative" dem primary campaign ever. Discuss. https://t.co/HGLQiQXUlQ — Kate Bolduan (@KateBolduan) January 29, 2016

Yesterday, Sanders put out an ad that criticizes Wall Street campaign contributions and speaking fees, but doesn’t directly refer to Clinton—hardly a third-degree Bern. Furthermore, the Sanders campaign is notable above all for its extreme aversion to negative campaigning, with Sanders going out of his way to give Clinton a pass on issues like her email scandal.



Alas, there is no shortage of Clinton surrogates making hyperbolic claims about the Sanders campaign. Just last week, David Brock, a staunch Clinton supporter, told the Associated Press that “it seems black lives don’t matter much to Bernie Sanders,” due to the fact that Sanders released an ad that featured mainly white people. Brock himself is infamous for his attempt to smear Anita Hill, as Sanders helpfully noted to the press.