Politics – Sen. Jeff Merkley: no independent bid for Sanders

In response to a tweet by presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump urging Bernie Sanders to run as an independent candidate, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley said Sen. Sanders would “absolutely not” make an independent bid. Merkley was a guest on CNN’s “New Day” when he said Sanders is conscious of what happened in the 2000 presidential election. “You know, Bernie went into this and he said, ‘There’s no way I’ll be Ralph Nader.’ We’re not going to split the party, we’re not going to empower the Republicans. He understands the damage that Bush did to this nation, and is not going to allow Trump to follow on and do even more damage,” Merkley said.