John Avlon on Sanders: He Is ‘a Guilt-Free Snack;’ Not ‘a Real Threat’ to Hillary

CAMEROTA: “So, real threat, John?”

AVLON: “Not a real threat to Hillary Clinton’s nomination. But it is absolutely signifier that the progressive left is more active and resurgent in the Democratic Party. The true believers want somebody they can truly believe in and Bernie Sanders represents a totally guilt-free snack. He’s not going to be the nominee. You can support him whole heartedly, you can give him a small donation, but you can do so without the burden of thinking he actually is going to be the nominee or president of the United States.”

HOOVER: “I don’t know about that.”

BERMAN: “So what does Hillary Clinton do about the guilt-free snack? Does she come out against hummus here; she has got $45 million in the bank which we just learned yesterday. You know, fundraising -- did she spent any of that against Bernie Sanders?”

HOOVER: “It is really hard, by the way, for the candidate who is running on reform campaign -- campaign finance reform to have $45 million of hard dollars in the bank. And then to spend it against Bernie Sanders, that is just going to anger the troops even more.”

AVLON: “You don't want to stomp uncle fluffy to death. That is a dumb idea. The point is here, is that she really needs to build up war chest for a general election campaign. She’s focused on the general. She doesn't – not in my opinion need to overcompensate for the left. She already is probably the only figure who can bridge the divides. And more importantly, just reality check, just if you look at policies, she is probably the most liberal nominee of the Democratic Party since George McGovern.”

BERMAN: “She is not the nominee yet.” [Crosstalk]

AVLON: “But -- No, she would be.”

CAMEROTA: “You think she is more liberal today, than Barack Obama was eight years ago.”

AVLON: “I do. Yes. Not only is she in favor of marriage equality, but she's tactic consistently on guns, gay rights issues, she is really running on a very liberal plank – on progressive plank. And that is something that whether it makes the Bill de Blasio isn’t the world happy, really sort of irrelevant. She’s got to walk that line to be able to unite Democratic Party.”