Bernie Sanders’s Rejection of ‘Super PACs’ Is Not Universal

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has found a “super PAC” he does not find objectionable.

Mr. Sanders, an independent who has tapped into raw populism among progressives, has spent months denouncing super PACs and faulting his rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for accepting money from those that support her.

But the National Nurses United for Patient Protection “super PAC” has spent more than $550,000 in support of Mr. Sanders’s campaign. Mr. Sanders said in an interview with CNN that he did not see that as similar to the unlimited funds that the others could raise.

“What I have said over and over again is that I have not and will not raise a nickel for a super PAC,” Mr. Sanders said in the interview on Monday. “I am the only Democratic candidate who does not have a super PAC. I will not have a super PAC. They are nurses, and they are fighting for the health care of their people. They are doing what they think is appropriate. I do not have a super PAC.”

The National Nurses United group is funded by union dues, not by donor contributions. But Mr. Sanders’s comments on the topic of campaign finance have often been posed in absolute terms about where he draws the line.