A group of HIV/AIDS activists are unhappy with presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) following a meeting to discuss the fight against the disease, saying he “mischaracterized” the purpose and misled the public and press on the focus of the meeting.

In a group letter dated May 27 and published on Housingworks.org, the activists told Sanders, “While we were optimistic following what we felt was a productive meeting, our optimism quickly turned to disappointment when your campaign issued a news release misrepresenting the meeting with HIV/AIDS leadership.”

On May 25, Sanders released a statement regarding the meeting titled, “Sanders Backs California Ballot Initiative to Rein in Drug Prices at Meeting with HIV/AIDS Advocates.” The statement went on to say, “U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday met with national HIV/AIDS advocates to discuss the epidemic and his support for a California ballot initiative to lower prices for taxpayer-supported AIDS treatments.”

The activists became upset when they realized that the emphasis of Sanders’ statement was the ballot initiative, not the general discussion of HIV/AIDS-related issues, which they claim occupied most of the discussion. “During the meeting, we raised the issue of the California ballot initiative with you toward the tail end of the discussion, not to support or endorse it, but to relay to you that a number of stakeholders in California have serious concerns about the initiative,” the letter reads. They also expressed concern that it now appears their group supports the initiative as a whole, which they do not.

“We are deeply concerned as this may now appear as if we were exploited for short-term political gain leading up to the imminent California Presidential Primary Election,” they said in the letter.

Sanders’ campaign responded sharply, alleging that the activists were supporting the big pharmaceutical companies, reported Mediaite. “This is absolutely absurd and ridiculous,” Sanders’ campaign responded. “No presidential candidate running for president is more committed to ending the AIDS epidemic than Bernie Sanders. And you would know this if you read Bernie’s plan. Here is a copy: https://berniesanders.com/issues/hiv-and-aids/.”

The proposition at issue, called the Drug Price Relief Initiative (A.G. number 15-0009), would put a ceiling on the price the state of California would pay for HIV/AIDS drugs, limiting them to the price paid for the same prescription drugs by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA). The price ceiling would also apply to any state agency that purchases prescription drugs.

The population most at risk for contracting HIV is black men who sleep with men, according to a Centers for Disease Control study. Half of all black men who sleep with men will contract the disease. Men of any race who sleep with men have a 1 in 6 chance of contracting the virus, while needle users who inject illegal drug had the third-highest rate for getting HIV at just under 5 percent.