Bernie Sanders Apologizes To Female Staffers Sexually Harassed During His 2016 Campaign

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday acknowledged and apologized for any sexual harassment or mistreatment of women who worked on his 2016 presidential campaign.

Allegations that male members of his campaign had harassed and discriminated against female campaign workers have been circulating for weeks as the senator weighs a potential second presidential run.

I thank them, from the bottom of my heart, for speaking out, Sanders wrote in a statement. What they experienced was absolutely unacceptable and certainly not what a progressive campaign, or any campaign, should be about.

He continued, The allegations speak to unacceptable behavior that must not be tolerated in any campaign or workplace. To the women in that campaign who were harassed or mistreated I apologize.

To the women on my 2016 campaign who were harassed or mistreated, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for speaking out. I apologize.

We can't just talk about ending sexism and discrimination. It must be a reality in our daily lives. That was clearly not the case in 2016. pic.twitter.com/eJtCAGjHZu

Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 10, 2019","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Bernie Sanders","author_url":"https://twitter.com/BernieSanders","cache_age":86400,"description":"To the women on my 2016 campaign who were harassed or mistreated, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for speaking out. I apologize. We can't just talk about ending sexism and discrimination. It must be a reality in our daily lives. 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To the women on my 2016 campaign who were harassed or mistreated, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for speaking out. I apologize.

We can't just talk about ending sexism and discrimination. It must be a reality in our daily lives. That was clearly not the case in 2016. pic.twitter.com/eJtCAGjHZu
Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 10, 2019

More than two dozen women have come forward with allegations against campaign staffers. Politico reported Wednesday that a top adviser on the campaign had forcibly kissed a female subordinate after the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

The adviser, Robert Becker, has denied any wrongdoing. Friends of Bernie Sanders , the senators main campaign committee, said Becker would not be a part of any future campaigns in response to the allegation against him.

Sanders has not personally been the focus of any of the accusations. He has said he had been unaware of the alleged harassment and mistreatment of his aides during the campaign.

I was little bit busy running around the country trying to make the case, Sanders told CNN on Jan. 2.

In his statement Thursday, Sanders admitted his 2016 campaigns standards and safeguards were inadequate. He outlined what steps his 2018 Senate re-election campaign had taken to prevent sexual harassment, including training on the issue for all employees.

Former campaign staffers wrote a letter to the senator in December to request a meeting with him and his advisers about the issue of sexual violence and harassment on the 2016 campaign in order to mitigate the issue in the upcoming presidential cycle.