Bernie Sanders' national press secretary says there was 'plain old racism' on campaign trail

“It was plain old racism and nothing else” is how Symone Sanders, Bernie Sanders’ national press secretary, described being on the campaign trail.

In an interview with Mikki Halpin in Lena Dunham’s Lenny, Sanders said she was often stopped from even entering events by security. She said when she told Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane, about security refusing her, “they were horrified.” Sanders, who is black, said that in a speech that night, Bernie Sanders spent a little extra time on the part about race relations in America and racism.

“This all goes to show that we have come so far in so many places in our American life, but in politics we still have some ways to go in terms of staffing and representation on various levels,” Sanders said.

Sanders tweeted after the interview that she was not talking about the campaign staff, but venue staff.

Sanders left the Bernie Sanders campaign in late June. She told Lenny that she had a “great run” and said she wanted to be “doing everything I can to help elect good, progressive Democrats up and down the ticket.”

On a lighter note, Sanders said was so used to saying “no relation” when talking about the Democratic candidate that it became her “tagline.”