Bernie Sanders has retracted his previous statements about his intent to slow down his presidential election campaign after a recent heart attack.
“I misspoke the other day; I said a word I should not have said, and media drives me a little bit nuts to make a big deal about it,” Sanders told NBC Nightly News on Wednesday.
He added that his team is going “to get back into the groove of a very vigorous campaign.”
“I love doing rallies, and I love doing town meetings,” Sanders said, pledging to “start off slower and [then] build up and build up and build up.”
He also rejected allegations that his team tried to conceal details on his heart attack as “nonsense.”
“We’re dealing with all kinds of doctors. We wanted to have a sense of what the hell is going on. […] I think we acted absolutely appropriately,” he pointed out.
On Tuesday, he told reporters that he would change the “nature” of his presidential campaign due to concerns over his health.
“We were doing in some cases five or six meetings today, three or four rallies and town meetings and meeting with groups of people. I don't think I’m going to do that,” Sanders said at the time, adding that his team “can change the nature of the campaign a bit”.
The 78-year-old was hospitalised last week with chest pains which required doctors to insert two stents after discovering a blockage in one of his arteries. This prompted his campaign to announce that they are “cancelling his events and appearances until further notice”, and that they “will continue to provide appropriate updates”.
Sanders has served as the junior US senator for Vermont since 2007. Having served as Vermont's at-large congressman from 1991 to 2007, he is the longest-serving Independent in US congressional history.
During the 2016 presidential election, Sanders finished as a runner-up in the Democratic primaries, with Hillary Clinton being nominated as the party's candidate.