PHILADELPHIA _ So what did Bernie Sanders make of all the booing on his behalf Monday night?
Give his supporters time, Sanders told reporters at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast Tuesday. Most have never been involved in politics before. They are still working their way through the stages of grief.
"We have beautiful supporters, passionate supporters," he said. He figured some 90 percent of the delegates representing him "had never been to a convention before."
Sanders reiterated that he is going to campaign aggressively for Hillary Clinton. But don't expect him to stay a committed Democrat after that. He ran for the Senate as an independent, he said, and he will be serving out his term as one.
The senator also hasn't grown any more fond of the media after a year in which he was in the headlines and cable news spotlight daily.
"I think you have a right to ask the question, dumb that it may be," he said _ kind of joking, but kind of not _ to a reporter who asked whether Sanders feels he can trust Clinton. Sanders said reporters should have been asking about climate change and health care. "You are asking me about trust, so we can have a big article about controversy."
"Did anybody ask me about climate change?" he said. "Is it of some significance to anyone at this table?"
The senator also had some thoughts about the conspicuous display of special-interest money throughout the Democratic convention.
"It should be an embarrassment," Sanders said. Then he looked around the posh neoclassical conference room where he was breakfasting with reporters. "Who is sponsoring this?"
Moderator Al Hunt joked that one of his colleagues was picking up the tab. Then he decided best to be clear. "We are, by the way senator _ to be serious _ we don't have any outside funder," Hunt said.
