“We have had our differences of opinions with the DNC,” Bernie Sanders said. | Getty Bernie Sanders in 'negotiations' with DNC over data breach

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Sunday he’s in “negotiations” with the Democratic National Committee following an ugly spat that led to the firing of a Sanders campaign staffer accused of accessing voter data belonging to the Hillary Clinton campaign.

“We're trying to work with the DNC to put this whole thing behind us,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”


“Frankly,” the Vermont senator added, “I think for the American people there are far more important issues having to do with the disappearance of the American middle class and huge income and wealth inequality and climate change.”

Following the data breach, the DNC temporarily suspended the Sanders campaign’s access to its voter database — and the campaign in turn filed a lawsuit. The dispute has inflamed tensions between Democratic Party insiders and allies of the insurgent Sanders campaign, who have long suspected the DNC of favoring Clinton.

Sanders was asked Sunday whether the DNC is giving him “a fair shot.”

“We have had our differences of opinions with the DNC,” he responded. “But at the end of the day, the DNC, Hillary Clinton and myself — we want to defeat right-wing extremism in this country. So we're trying to work out our differences of opinion.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who chairs the DNC, appeared on “Meet the Press” after Sanders but wasn’t asked about the data issue.