The Democratic candidates can count on a warm and fuzzy interview wherever they venture on the late-night show circuit. Bernie Sanders dropped by The Tonight Show on NBC on Wednesday to discuss a slew of matters, all of which included jabs at President Trump.
After a bit of banter regarding the future of his campaign, host Jimmy Fallon posed a question which could be construed as sympathetic to Sanders, albeit refreshingly candid: "What do you think about -- are you getting pressure from the DNC for you to step down and drop out?"
Sanders then lamented his election prospects in the face of “moderate” candidates dropping out: "Well, there has been pressure from day one. You know, I think it's no great secret that there was a lot of nervousness at a time when you had people like Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg and Bloomberg, kind of splitting the more moderate vote so there was an effort to try to get rid of all of those folks."
Chugging along to the next topic on deck, Fallon brought up the coronavirus, in which he appeared to take a swing at the news media:
FALLON: We should talk about coronavirus, if you don't mind. I just don't know as a -- you know, I watch the news I read the news. And I just don't know who to really trust, I'm hearing --
That might hurt some NBC feelings. Sanders deflected the query to climate change like a seasoned political actor:
That is the problem that we have today we have a President who is anti-science doesn't believe in the reality of climate change. Who has appointed Mike Pence, whose also not known to be much of a scientist [laughter] to lead the task force…
Sanders is no scientist,either. He has a bachelor's degree in political science. Fallon then pinned blame on Vice President Pence for the “disaster” of the coronavirus. He also threw in a random name-drop:
Mike Pence being in charge of this is very interesting to a lot of people because they think he's going to be -- take the fall from this, take the hit, because this is a disaster. I think. And then they're going to say that Trump is going to have Nikki Haley on the ticket in 2020. What are you hearing over in your --
Sanders answered as only Sanders would:
Well, you know, it's ultimately the President of the United States' responsibility. And why you would appoint a Vice President to lead this whose own particular record with regard to science, with regard to the HIV virus, has been pretty pathetic.
Although Fallon claimed to not trust all news outlets, his questions suggested he's right in the NBC "mainstream."
Transcript below:
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
3/11/20
11:55:50 PM
FALLON: What do you think about- are you getting pressure from the DNC for you to step down and drop out?
SANDERS: Well, there has been pressure from day one. You know, I think it's no great secret that there was a lot of nervousness at a time when you had people like Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg and Bloomberg, kind of splitting the more moderate vote so there was an effort to try to get rid of all of those folks.
FALLON: Because there was also that stuff Donald Trump has been saying for at least a month, that the DNC is trying to squash the Sanders campaign they're never going to let him be the nominee trust me, folks. Do you think the President is right?
SANDERS: What amazes me, here we have a stock market that is collapsing. You have a coronavirus that is scaring the entire world we have climate change, which is a threat to the human planet and Donald Trump keeps worrying about the Democratic Primary...
(...)
FALLON: Welcome back, everyone we are here with Senator Bernie Sanders thank you so much for being here. We should talk about coronavirus, if you don't mind. I just don't know as a -- you know, I watch the news I read the news. And I just don't know who to really trust I'm hearing --
SANDERS: That is the problem that we have today we have a President who is anti-science doesn't believe in the reality of climate change. Who has appointed Mike Pence, whose also not known to be much of a scientist to lead the task force. And clearly at this moment, you need somebody you can trust who is going to bring together the best scientists, doctors, researchers, work with the entire world to do everything that we can to halt this terrible pandemic...
FALLON: Mike Pence being in charge of this is very interesting to a lot of people because they think he's going to be -- take the fall from this, take the hit, because this is a disaster. I think. And then they're going to say that Trump is going to have Nikki Haley on the ticket in 2020. What are you hearing over in your -
SANDERS: Well, you know, it's ultimately the President of the United States' responsibility. And why you would appoint a Vice President to lead this whose own particular record with regard to science, with regard to the HIV virus, has been pretty pathetic. What you need to do to give confidence to the American people is bring the best minds in the country, in the world together. As a leader, that's what you can be doing and don't make this into politics, don't start attacking Democrats. That is not only absurd, it is demoralizing for the American people.
