Co-Chair Of Bernie Sanders Campaign On Strong Nevada Results

Nina Turner, the national co-chair of Sen. Sanders' campaign, tells NPR's Michel Martin that his success in Nevada proves the presidential candidate has captured the support of a diverse coalition.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

OK. Now we're going to turn to Nina Turner. She is the national co-chair of the Bernie Sanders campaign. Nina Turner, welcome. Thanks for joining us.

NINA TURNER: Thanks so much.

MARTIN: And congratulations are in order. It looks like a big night for your candidate.

TURNER: Thank you. We are very excited, needless to say.

MARTIN: And what are you most excited about?

TURNER: Well, a lot of work went into this state - well, the first three states - and we are three for three, but Nevada in particular shows a greater depth of diversity. We know both Iowa and New Hampshire were overwhelmingly white states, even though in both of those states, the people of color who do live there should not be dismissed. They went overwhelmingly for Senator Sanders. But as we move into Nevada, it is undeniable that Senator Bernie Sanders has a multigenerational, multicultural and multigender coalition of people behind him, beside him and in front of him who believe in his vision and his ability to defeat President Donald J. Trump.

MARTIN: And do you think that that multigenerational coalition will persist through the next phase? I mean, looking ahead, South Carolina and Super Tuesday, six southern states vote on Super Tuesday. What is your sense of how strong Senator Sanders' support will be in the South?

TURNER: I do believe that because we've been doing the work, just as we did the work here - we were the first here, cultivated relationships with voters - we know there were a lot of first-time voters in the - first-time caucusgoers who leaned very heavily towards Senator Sanders. We're doing that same thing in every other state. Particularly, we paid lots of attention to South Carolina. The senator has been to about 60 events in that state. He started going through that state in the latter part of 2018, even before he knew he was ever going to run again. So he was continuously doing the work of the people, being out there on the front line. And so we do expect to continue to see strong showing across the country as this coalition continues to build.

MARTIN: And we've been hearing from our correspondents who were in those southern states in different places, and what they're - this is from voters now, this is not them giving their opinion - what they're hearing from some voters is concern about how Senator Sanders' message, particularly knowing that he will be portrayed and is being portrayed as a socialist in some quarters, even a communist, certainly as a radical - you know, how will he answer that concern that these voters have expressed that he will be portrayed in such a way that it will damage the Democratic Party's chances, particularly in these more conservative states? What's your answer to that?

TURNER: Well, the Republican Party, you know, Mr. Trump is going to try to spin the narrative no matter who is the nominee. The beautiful thing about Senator Bernie Sanders being the nominee is that he's the total antithesis of President Donald J. Trump. He did not vote for any of his military budgets. He's on the right side of history when it comes to immigration reform, right side of history when it comes to trade deals. He has stood toe-to-toe with President Donald J. Trump every stretch, every step of the way.

And people should take a note to what has happened in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, that the voters who have voted so far knowing that the senator identifies himself as a democratic socialist very much in the spirit of President FDR, in the spirit of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others, and voters still - that label does not matter because what they want to know is, whose side are you on? And clearly, Senator Bernie Sanders is on the side of the working people, and they know it. And that's why he's winning these states.

MARTIN: Nina Turner, who's the national co-chair of Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. Nina Turner, thanks so much for joining us in this very busy time. Congratulations once again.

TURNER: Thanks so much.

Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.