With party divided, Clinton doesn't rule out Sanders as VP pick

With party divided, Clinton doesn't rule out Sanders as VP pick

By Will Cadigan, CNN
Updated 3:35 PM ET, Thu May 19, 2016

Washington (CNN)Hillary Clinton didn't rule out Wednesday picking her Democratic presidential primary challenger, Bernie Sanders, from serving as her vice president.

"I won't get into that," she told CNN's Chris Cuomoin an exclusive interview, when asked if giving Sanders a spot on the ticket would help bring the party together.

She also declined to answer if Sanders was in consideration for the No. 2 slot.

READ: Hillary Clinton: Donald Trump not qualified to be president

Clinton, who is leading the increasingly divisive Democratic contest, didn't completely shutdown the possibility of Sanders as her running mate, saying, "That's something down the road."

Sanders has said repeatedly that he intends to stay in the contest until "the last ballot is cast."

Tensions in the Democratic Party have boiled over, highlighted by a heated Nevada Democratic Convention in which disagreements over party rules led to a raucous response by Sanders supporters including posting state party chairwoman Roberta Lange's phone number and address on social media, which lead to death threats.

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Sanders denounced the violence, saying a statement, "Our campaign of course believes in non-violent change and it goes without saying that I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals."

But many Democratic leaders called for Sanders to do more, including others rumored to be on the Clinton VP shortlist.

"Bernie is a leader and he needs to condemn it without equivocation and without trying to deflect attention or blame to somebody else ... deflection of responsibility is not leadership," Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia told CNN's Manu Raju.

Fellow potential VP pick Rep. Xavier Becerra called on Sanders to "act like a leader," telling CNN's Deirdre Walsh that Sanders should "send a very clear message, if he hasn't already ... that he does condemn activity that could lead to violence."

Divisions in the party aside, Clinton said there is at least one thing that unites the two candidates.

"What brings us together is Donald Trump," she said.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/19/politi...ice-president/