Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drew criticism Thursday after saying many white voters in the South who felt “uncomfortable” voting for black candidates for the first time were “not necessarily racist.” The comment came in an interview with The Daily Beast published Thursday, in which the senator discussed the difficulties faced by black gubernatorial candidates Andrew Gillum in Florida and Stacey Abrams in Georgia. “I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American,” Sanders told the outlet. “I think next time around, by the way, it will be a lot easier for them to do that.”

Here is the audio of the relevant portion of @BernieSanders's interview with @thedailybeast: https://t.co/EokIsU6YQ5 — Josh Miller-Lewis (@jmillerlewis) November 8, 2018

Let me be absolutely clear: Donald Trump, Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis ran racist campaigns. pic.twitter.com/QwZtCe4xh3 — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 8, 2018