'Everybody brings some negatives': Sanders says gender an obstacle for female candidates

After denying in a Democratic debate last week that he told Sen. Elizabeth Warren a woman could not be elected president, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that he thinks gender can be a problem for female candidates seeking to occupy the White House. 

Sanders said during a forum on New Hampshire Public Radio that he didn't want to discuss his "private" 2018 conversation with Warren

"Let me just say this: It is hard for me to imagine how anybody in the year 2020 could not believe that a woman could become president of the United States. And if you check my record, I've been saying that for 30 years," Sanders said.  

NHPR reporter Casey McDermott asked Sanders if he thought "gender is still an obstacle for female politicians." 

"The answer is yes," Sanders replied. "But I think everybody has their own sets of problems. I’m 78 years of age. That’s a problem." 

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The Vermont independent compared the hesitancy some voters feel about his age to other candidates' "negatives," such as youth or gender. 

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"If you're looking at Buttigieg, he's a young guy and people will say, 'Well, he's too young to be president.' You look at this one, she's a woman. Everybody brings some negatives, if you like," Sanders said. "I would just hope very much that the American people look at the totality of a candidate. Not at their gender, not at their sexuality, not at their age, but at everything." 

Sanders said that while gender might spark anxiety about electability among some voters, it was important to remember that "as a country, we have come a long way."

He said 25 years ago most people could not imagine an African-American becoming president, or an openly gay man being a serious candidate, but those assumptions were upended by Barack Obama and Pete Buttigieg. 

"I think the American people have moved very significantly in trying to look at candidates based on what they stand for," Sanders said. 

After Sanders denied in the debate that he made the remark Warren attributed to him about a woman's electability, Warren accused him of calling her "a liar on national TV." 

When asked about Sanders' comments on Sunday, Warren said she did not wish to comment. 

"I have no further comment on this," she said. "I have been friends with Bernie for a long time." 

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