Sanders slams press, says focus should be on middle class

DUBUQUE, Ia. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders slammed the state of the American political press Sunday evening after stumping before a crowd of more than 1,500 people at Loras College.

In an impromptu news conference backstage, Sanders quickly lost patience with a gaggle of local, national and international reporters. Instead of focusing on important issues, he said the media is constantly looking to breed conflict between him and Democratic front-

runner Hillary Clinton.

"But the issue that I want to be talking about is the collapse of the middle class. You guys going to write about that?" Sanders asked, to which a small crowd of supporters cheered him on. "I am not going to get into the game of sitting around attacking Hillary Clinton."

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Sanders grew perturbed when a reporter asked him how he reconciled his position as the "anti-establishment candidate" with his experience as a "career politician."

When pressed, he pointed out how he became the first independent elected mayor of Burlington, Vt. That feat, he said, required "taking on the entire ruling class."

"Does that sound like a career politician to you?" he asked.

Echoing his stump speech, Sanders said Americans are sick of establishment politics and an economy where only the rich seem to gain.

"And they're tired of a media which continues to want to have 'gotcha' questions and make conflict between the candidates rather than talking about the real issues impacting the American people," Sanders said.