During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that the Democratic National Committee had not treated his campaign fairly when it cut off access to a shared voter database.
Host Chuck Todd asked the Democratic presidential contender about the DNC’s move, which came in the wake of revelations that at least one Sanders staffer accessed proprietary voter data held by Hillary Clinton’s campaign after a firewall temporarily went down.
The two sides have since reached an agreement, and access to the data has been restored, but not before the Sanders campaign used the episode as a fundraising boon.
“Do you believe the DNC is treating you fairly?” Todd asked the underdog White House contender.
“I think in this instance they did not,” Sanders said. “On two occasions now, Chuck, in the last few months, breaches have occurred as the result of the incompetence of DNC venders.”
Sanders echoed his apology to the Clinton campaign, which he first made during Saturday night’s Democratic primary debate, and said that members of his staff “screwed up” in improperly accessing the data.
But Sanders then reiterated his criticism of the DNC’s response to the episode.
“To shut off our access to our own information -- to significantly hinder our campaign -- was a complete overreaction and that was absolutely wrong,” he said.
Even before the current spat, the DNC had faced criticism from Sanders allies over its decision to schedule another debate on a weekend night -- during football season and shortly before Christmas -- when the national TV audience was expected to be minimal.