(JTA) — Sen. Bernie Sanders backpedaled after indicating he would curtail his campaign following a heart attack, saying he would run a “vigorous” campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
“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 said during an interview with NBC News on Wednesday evening. “We’re going to get back into the groove of a very vigorous campaign, I love doing rallies and I love doing town meetings.”
He added, “I want to start off slower and build up and build up and build up.”
On Tuesday, in remarks to reporters in front of his home in Burlington, Vermont, Sanders suggested that he would “change the nature of the campaign a bit. Make sure that I have the strength to do what I have to do.”
He also said that he was “dumb” for ignoring warning symptoms, including being more fatigued than usual while on the campaign trail.
On Oct. 1, Sanders experienced “chest discomfort” at a campaign event in Nevada and was taken to the hospital, where two stents were inserted in his heart for an artery blockage. Days later his campaign confirmed that he had suffered a heart attack.
His campaign says he will participate in the next Democratic presidential debate, in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 15.
Sanders said that he plans to release all of his medical records, but did not say when.