Bernie Sanders apologizes for data breach in Democratic debate
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire -- Bernie Sanders offered his apology to Hillary Clinton and his supporters during the Democratic debate here on Saturday night for the data breach that has roiled the Democratic party since Thursday night.
"Yes, I apologize," Sanders said, when asked by the moderator if Clinton deserves an apology.
It was Sanders' first comment on the data breach.
"I want to apologize to my supporters," he continued. "This is not the type of campaign that we run."
Sanders promised to take action against any other employees who are found to have been involved in accessing and saving confidential voter data compiled by the Clinton campaign in the massive, party-controlled database, which was temporarily made available to his staff on Wednesday morning due to a technological glitch.
Clinton, in return, accepted Sanders' apology and expressed her desire to get back to the issues, much like Sanders did at the first debate when he was asked about Clinton's private email server.
"We should move on," Clinton said. "I don't think the American people are all that interested in this."
Ahead of the debate, the Sanders and Clinton campaigns exchanged much sharper words. Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director, penned a memo posted on a Clinton campaign website demanding answers from Sanders on specific questions tied to the breach.
"In an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, Tad Devine claimed this was all a 'mistake,'" Palmieri wrote. "A mistake?"
In response, Tad Devine, tweeted a link to an article about Clinton's Iraq War vote, which has dogged her in this campaign.
"When I said a fired staffer made a 'mistake,' I meant it in the same way @HillaryClinton did about the Iraq war," Devine wrote.