Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said his 2020 presidential campaign will be more diverse and have stronger protocols to prevent sexual harassment, changes spurred by mistakes that he acknowledged plagued his 2016 White House bid. “We were criticized for being too male, that was a correct criticism. Too white. That was a correct criticism. That is going to change. We will have a much more diverse campaign,” Sanders said on the syndicated “Breakfast Club” radio show Monday. Sanders also vowed to focus more on preventing incidents of sexual harassment among his campaign staff, like those that occurred during his last bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and for which he recently apologized.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Sen. Bernie Sanders took his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign to Chicago on Sunday, where he spoke at the city's famed Navy Pier. He plans trips over the next few weeks to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada and California, states with early contests in the nomination battle.

“I don’t deny” that such problems plagued his 2016 campaign “and I’m embarrassed by that,” he said. “That ain’t gonna happen again. We have instituted the strongest protocol to protect women or anybody against sexual harassment.” Representatives with Sanders’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the details of the procedures. Sanders previously told CBS News his new presidential bid will provide training for every employee working for him and give anyone who believes they have been victimized or mistreated the opportunity to speak with people outside of the campaign.

We have instituted the strongest protocol to protect women or anybody against sexual harassment.

Several days before announcing his White House run last week, Sanders met with a group that included senior aides, former campaign staffers and women who alleged sexual harassment while working for his campaign and who discussed their past experiences, CNN reported. “He heard many powerful stories and I think he understood that these are not just one-offs and I got the sense that there was a real desire from him to not see a repeat of this ever again,” a former campaign staffer who asked not to be named told the news network. Sanders has not been implicated in any of the allegations and has said he was unaware of the abuse within a campaign apparatus that he said rapidly grew from a handful of employees to roughly 1,200 workers in a short time.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Sanders was joined by his wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, in Chicago, on Sunday.