In an interview with NBC correspondent Chris Jansing aired during MSNBC’s 1 p.m. ET hour on Thursday, left-wing actress and fervent Bernie Sanders supporter Susan Sarandon called out the lack of media attention for Hillary Clinton’s ongoing e-mail scandal: “I don’t know anybody – nobody’s even talking about this indictment, what happens with that? Besides the trust issue of catching her in so many lies.”
Jansing countered: “Well, there has been no indictment.” Sarandon emphatically declared: “No, but there’s going to be. There’s going to be – I mean, it’s inevitable.” Jansing cautioned: “We don't know that.”
After the taped exchange, anchor Craig Melvin observed: “Chris, fascinating to hear Susan Sarandon all but say that an indictment is inevitable.” Jansing replied: “Yeah, and again, I pushed her on that. And there’s a group of people who are, again, the ‘Bernie or Bust’ people, who really believe that there is something lingering out there besides what the polls show, this distrust of Hillary Clinton that could be very problematic for the Democratic Party...”
She noted that while the argument has been frequently used by supporters of the socialist, it’s something “that you will never hear from Senator Sanders. He just says, ‘I’m not going to go there, I’m going to run a positive campaign.’”
Here is a full transcript of the June 2 segment:
1:41 PM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: NBC’s Chris Jansing is in Modesto, California, she’s covering the Sanders campaign. Chris, let’s talk about this poll that we just mentioned, it shows that the race again inside the margin of error. This is our NBC News/Wal Street Journal poll showing that two-point lead. How is the campaign able to close the gap?
CHRIS JANSING: Good question. I mean, it was a 11 points in January, but he's practically been living here. They believe that by the time people go to vote in California on Tuesday, that he will have been before 250,000 people. And take a look at the people who are in line, they represent what those polls – both NBC’s and the field polls – shows he is really far ahead on people under 40. And so, he continues to push hard.
It’s really interesting when you take a look at these “Bernie or Bust” people, among them the actor and activist Susan Sarandon. I talked to her this morning, she just flew in from New York. Who doesn’t believe that the nomination is out of reach. Take a listen.
[TO SARANDON] Even if he wins, he won't have the delegates. And I know that the campaign pushes back against that, but the numbers are really against him.
SUSAN SARANDON: Well, except if you talk about super-delegates, and some of them have already changed their votes. And –
JANSING: He would need to flip more than 300 – about 300 super-delegates. It would be beyond unprecedented.
SARANDON: Well, it would be unprecedented, especially since so many of them are lobbyists for exactly the things that he’s against. But I don’t know anybody – nobody’s even talking about this indictment, what happens with that? Besides the trust issue of catching her in so many lies. When does that –
JANSING: Well, there has been no indictment.
SARANDON: No, but there’s going to be. There’s going to be – I mean, it’s inevitable.
JANSING: We don't know that.
SARANDON: Well, we don't know that these people – that he's not going to get the numbers either.
JANSING: If Bernie Sanders is not the nominee, you don't know if you would support Hillary Clinton. Do you still feel that way?
SARANDON: I feel that it would be very hard for me to send that message that I give her permission to use my taxes. Also, because she's such an interventionist. You know, she says she learned her lesson in Iraq and then, you know, there goes Honduras, there goes Lybia, there goes Syria. And I don't want my kids in danger like that.
JANSING: The Sanders campaign thinks that the speech Hillary Clinton is going to give today on national security will help them to emphasize the differences between the two of them. They’re also energized by the fact that she's had to come back to California, that the race is so close. One thing that's not working in their favor, the fundraising numbers Hillary Clinton put out yesterday. The Sanders campaign has chosen not to put out their May fundraising numbers, acknowledging that they’re softer than they have been in recent months, but they say that they have enough and they believe they’ll have enough to go through to the convention. That has not changed, Craig.
MELVIN: Chris, fascinating to hear Susan Sarandon all but say that an indictment is inevitable.
JANSING: Yeah, and again, I pushed her on that. And there’s a group of people who are, again, the “Bernie or Bust” people, who really believe that there is something lingering out there besides what the polls show, this distrust of Hillary Clinton that could be very problematic for the Democratic Party and they’ve been using that as an argument. An argument, by the way, that you will never hear from Senator Sanders. He just says, “I’m not going to go there, I’m going to run a positive campaign.” He has not, in fact, gone strongly after Hillary over the last week or so.
MELVIN: Chris Jansing in Modesto, California. Chris, thanks as always.
