Sanders: I want Trump to win GOP nomination

by Jonathan Swan - 02/03/16 10:28 PM ET

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says he is pulling for Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination, because he thinks he can destroy the billionaire in the general election.

“I’m prejudiced,” Sanders told a CNN town hall in Derry, N.H., on Wednesday night. “I want Trump to win the Republican primary.

{mosads}”And I would love the opportunity to run against him. I think we would win by a lot.”

CNN moderator Anderson Cooper asked Sanders what pitch he would make to an Independent Granite State voter who is choosing between supporting him or Trump. New Hampshire primary voters can vote for either party’s candidate without being registered.

“I would say, examine Trump’s record carefully,” Sanders said, adding that it was not only the real estate mogul’s “bigoted” remarks against Muslims and immigrants that he finds so offensive.

“If you examine his agenda, it is not an agenda for working Americans.”

Sanders said Trump is wrong to think the minimum wage does not need to be raised, and for supporting tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

“Trump in a Republican debate said wages are too high in America. Really? Too high in America?” Sanders said. “And here’s the other one that kind of blows me away. Trump is, as you know, a well-known scientist. Brilliant scientist.”

Sanders was interrupted by the audience laughing loudly.

“[Trump] has concluded after years of studying the issue that climate change is a hoax, brought to us by the Chinese,” he continued.

“Now that shocked me … because I thought that he would’ve thought it was a hoax brought to us by the Mexicans or the Muslims.”

Trump responded on Twitter moments later, writing that Sanders is using reverse psychology because he’s scared of facing him:

Sanders says he wants to run against me because he doesn’t want to run against me. He would be so easy to beat!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2016