SHOT: Today on CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper, Bernie Sanders said, “Let’s be clear. back in 1988 in Vermont, I likely lost an election because I alone stood up to the gun people. And said, ‘no I don’t think assault weapons should be sold and distributed in America.'”
CHASER: The Washington Post’s fact checker gave Bernie Sanders claim that he “probably lost” his election in 1988 because of his stance on assault weapons Two Pinocchios. “I have a D minus, that’s a D minus, voting record from the NRA. In 1988, I probably lost an election because I was the only candidate who said we should ban assault weapons.” — Sanders, interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Jan. 17, 2016 […] We’ve taken an extensive look at Sanders’s gun record — on his vote for the gun manufacturers liability law (which he now says he would repeal), his votes on the Brady bill and instant background checks, his vote on the “Charleston Loophole” and a slew of other votes (firearms on Amtrak checked baggage,guns in national parks and funding for gun research). This part of Sanders’s record is less clear. Sanders has opposed assault weapons since 1988, so he has been completely consistent on that issue. But can he really suggest that stance cost him the 1988 election? The evidence is mixed. He could have just as easily lost the election because he split votes with a Democrat, as opposed to being the only candidate without an NRA endorsement. In 1990, even Sanders was less sure that his failure to get an NRA endorsement two years prior was a major factor in his loss (“It might have been. We don’t know. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.”) Somewhere between 1990 and 2016, Sanders seems to have decided it’s played a bigger role than he originally thought. Two Pinocchios.” [Washington Post,1/21/16]