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Bernie Sanders supporter Rosario Dawson said she stood with Monica Lewinsky in the fight against bullying. | AP Sanders surrogate: Rosario Dawson comments 'not helpful'

Bernie Sanders' lone Senate endorser on Monday rejected the notion that the recent comments made by one of the candidate's celebrity surrogates represents more than an isolated, inflammatory incident.

"No. This is individuals going off track on their own," Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in an interview with CNN's "New Day," addressing actress Rosario Dawson's invocation of Monica Lewinsky against bullying while introducing Sanders over the weekend in Delaware.

Such remarks are "not helpful to the campaign, and it's certainly not in keeping with what Bernie wants to see."

"Those are complete distractions. They take away from the conversation about core policy issues. In a campaign you have many people who step forward on your behalf. They come out with some things that go off track," Merkley said. "Hopefully, everything I say will be on track because I do believe that this is a conversation about so many important issues."

Dawson's comments are not the first from a Sanders surrogate to have raised eyebrows among those on the Hillary Clinton campaign and beyond. For example, when actor Tim Robbins said Clinton's victory in South Carolina was "about as significant" as winning the island of Guam, the territory's lone congressional delegate and former first lady fired back, pledging her support to Clinton ahead of the May 7 primary. Robbins later apologized, saying he did not intend to make light of the territory's lack of full voting representation.

For his part, Sanders declined to directly address Dawson's comments about Lewinsky on Sunday, praising the actress in a CNN interview for doing a "great job" in discussing the "real issues" facing the country.