Per CNN TV
edit: Obama, Bernie Sanders to meet privately - CNNPolitics.com
Thoughts?
- on the schedule for a few days according to reps
- impression given that it could really be in reaction to politico piece but its unclear
edit: Obama, Bernie Sanders to meet privately - CNNPolitics.com
Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama will meet at the White House Wednesday with Sen. Bernie Sanders, days after heaping praise upon the Vermont senator's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest described the upcoming meeting as "informal," saying Obama and Sanders discussed arranging the session during last month's Congressional Holiday Ball.
"The two will meet privately in the Oval Office and there will be no formal agenda," Earnest wrote.
Sanders and Clinton are running a close race in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest of the 2016 race on Monday.
Obama offered an expansive view of the campaign during an interview taped last week, tipping his hat toward Clinton but avoiding a full-fledged endorsement.
"She can govern and she can start here, Day One, more experienced than any non-vice-president has ever been who aspires to this office," Obama told Politico.
Obama and Clinton last met in December for lunch. The White House did not disclose the session ahead of time, and said afterward it was mostly a "social occasion."
Earlier this month, Earnest told reporters that Obama and Sanders had met on occasion during gatherings of lawmakers at the White House.
Thoughts?