April 13, 2019
Dear members of the Board of the Center for American Progress and CAP Action Fund:
I write to express my deep concern and disappointment with the destructive role that the Center for
American Progress and its affiliated Action Fund arm are playing in the critical mission to defeat Donald
Trump.
Last week, you published an article on ThinkProgress criticizing me for my appearance and for the
income I earned from writing a book. Then, a day later, you published a video that dishonestly attacked
me for hypocrisy in my effort to address income inequality in America – a video that was excitedly
discussed on many conservative websites.
Sadly, I’m not the only candidate in the 2020 field who has experienced personal attacks from your
institution. My friend and colleague Elizabeth Warren was unfairly targeted by a November 2017 article
on ThinkProgress that echoed Donald Trump’s bad faith claims that she was being a hypocrite about her
ancestry. That attack that was linked on the Drudge Report and immediately immersed her into a rather
unhelpful debate. Again in October 2018, you published an article stating that she was hurting Native
American people.
That’s not all. In February of this year, an article on ThinkProgress attacked another friend and colleague
of mine, Cory Booker, for moving in a progressive direction and joining with me on a prescription drug
importation bill.
Center for American Progress leader Neera Tanden repeatedly calls for unity while simultaneously
maligning my staff and supporters and belittling progressive ideas. I worry that the corporate money
CAP is receiving is inordinately and inappropriately influencing the role it is playing in the progressive
movement.
I and other Democratic candidates are running campaigns based on principles and ideas and not
engaging in mudslinging or personal attacks on each other. Meanwhile, the Center for American
Progress is using its resources to smear Senator Booker, Senator Warren, and myself, among others. This
is hardly the way to build unity, or to win the general election.
I will be informing my grassroots supporters of the foregoing concerns that I have about the role CAP is
playing. Should your actions evolve in the coming months, I am happy to reconsider what kind of
partnership we can have.

 This counterproductive negative campaigning needs to stop. The Democratic primary must be a
campaign of ideas, not of bad faith smears. Please help play a constructive role in the effort to defeat
Donald Trump.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter, and I await your reply.
Sincerely,
Bernie Sanders