Sen. Bernie Sanders accuses Sen. Sinema of ‘sabotage’ after she joins his Independent ‘party’

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has called for the removal of Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema after she recently left the Democrat Party and became an Independent, which is Sanders’ party.

Sanders said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Sinema has “helped sabotage” some of Congress’s most important legislation and said that he would support any Democrat who would run against Sinema.

Sinema was one of few Democrats who has voted against party lines.

Sanders told CNN’s Dana Bash: “She has her reasons. I happen to suspect that it’s probably a lot to do with politics back in Arizona. I think the Democrats are not all that enthusiastic about somebody who helps sabotage some of the most important legislation that protects the interests of working families and voting rights and so forth.”

He added that if Arizona Democrats put someone forward to challenge Sinema as an Independent, he “will take a hard look at” supporting that candidate.

“I support progressive candidates all over this country – people who have the guts to take on special interests,” Sanders said. “I don’t know what’s going to be happening in Arizona – we will see who they nominate.”

Sinema has defended her defection to leave the Democratic party, saying in an interview that aired on Sunday: “I know this is really hard for lots of folks, especially [on Capitol Hill], but what’s important to me is … to not be tethered by the partisanship that dominates politics today.”

She added, “I want to remove some of that … poison from our politics. I want to get back to actually just working on the issues, working together to try and solve these challenges.”