Sanders 'making sure' of enough money to challenge Clinton

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday he’ll make a decision on running for president “pretty soon” and suggested his determination hinges on whether he can raise enough money for a Democratic primary bid against Hillary Clinton.

“Making sure you have the money to run a credible campaign is very important,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We’re working on it. And we will make the best decision we can in the near future.”


Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, has been positioning himself to the Clinton’s left. On Sunday, he insisted he would not run just to make a statement but rather to win, though he barely registers in the Democratic primary polls that Clinton has dominated so far.

Sanders reiterated concerns about Clinton and other Democrats’ willingness to take on Wall Street banks, close corporate tax loopholes and undo the effects of the Citizens United Supreme court ruling that has unleashed a torrent of outside money into political campaigns. He also urged Clinton to oppose pending efforts in Congress to move a fast-track a major trade deal with U.S. allies in the Pacific.

“I hope very much the secretary comes out against it,” he said. “We do not need to send more jobs to low-wage countries.”

Fox host Chris Wallace asked Sanders about his support for a single-payer health care system — and the decision by his home state of Vermont to scrap efforts to implement one. And Sanders said the country shouldn’t be deterred by Vermont’s failure.

“We have a massively dysfunctional health care system,” he said, calling a “Medicare for All” system a more “cost-effective, high-quality” option.

Sanders also insisted that, though he wants to cut waste from the military and defense budget, he would preserve the country’s military might amid growing confrontations with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other terrorists around the world.

“Of course, ISIS is a terrible organization that has to be defeated,” he said, adding that like other government agencies, “the military also has got to get rid of waste and fraud and cost overruns.”