Las Vegas: As early voting surged in Nevada's nominating contest, former Vice President Joe Biden lashed out at Democratic rival Bernie Sanders on Saturday for not doing enough to control his most aggressive supporters.
Biden's attack came during an interview for NBC's Meet The Press, as he fights to rescue his struggling presidential bid and Sanders works to strengthen his strong standing with the contest speeding into a new phase.
Biden also sought to downplay expectations for next Saturday's Nevada caucuses, telling reporters that he did not need to win. In the interview, the former vice president seized on reports that Sanders' supporters insulted and made online threats against leaders of an influential union that declined to endorse any of the eight candidates still in the Democratic race.
He may not be responsible for it, but he has some accountability, Biden charged. He continued: If any of my supporters did that, I'd disown them ... flat disown them.
The Sanders campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Biden's assertion. But Thursday in an interview with PBS, Sanders distanced himself from such behavior. "Anybody making personal attacks against anybody else in my name is not part of our movement," Sanders said, denouncing such behavior in all campaigns.
Saturday night, Sanders laced into billionaire candidate Mike Bloomberg at a Democratic Party dinner in Las Vegas, rattling off a list of heresies against the Democratic party he accused the former New York mayor of committing. Bloomberg implemented racist policies like stop and frisk in New York, opposed the minimum wage and higher taxes on the wealthy during the Obama administration, Sanders said.
"The simple truth is that Mayor Bloomberg, with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need to have the voter turnout we must have to defeat Donald Trump, Sanders said.
It was a rare attack by name from Sanders. Bloomberg is skipping the Nevada caucuses and was not at the Clark County Democratic Party dinner where Sanders and other 2020 contenders spoke.
The dinner capped the first day of a weekend of frenzied campaigning, colored by mobile campaign billboards cruising the Las Vegas strip and a diverse set of voters weighing in for the first time.
While the state's formal presidential caucuses are still a week away, Democrats opened the first of four days of early voting across more than 80 locations. State party officials at some sites across Nevada were overwhelmed by long lines.
Elizabeth Warren, meanwhile, also reeling after a weak performance last week in New Hampshire, looked to Nevada's women for momentum.
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