I am a fierce supporter of Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and gay rights in this country.

I'm not going to get establishment support. I'm not going to get the support of the governors and the senators, with few exceptions, and many of the major organizations.

In terms of media, we did not get the kind of media attention that somebody like a Donald Trump got, because media is not necessarily interested in the issues facing the middle class, more interested in attacks in personality. So I think there were a lot of reasons.

I am the longest- serving independent in the history of the United States Congress. People of Vermont sent me to Washington as an independent. That is true.

You've got the top 400 Americans owning more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans. Most folks do not think that is right.

I think our message,the Clinton campaign was very strong. Remember, this is their fourth campaign in South Carolina. Two for Bill Clinton. Two for Hillary Clinton. They had it well organized. They did well. And Icongratulate them. We came into that state at something like 7 or 8 percent in the polls. It was a tough road for us to hoe. But I want to thank all of our supporters, the members of the South Carolina state legislature.

When the average Social Security benefit is $1328 a month, and more than one-third of our senior citizens rely on Social Security for Virtually all of their income, our job is to expand benefits, not cut them.