Vilsack: Trump is to politics what Bernie Madoff was to investment

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is likening Donald Trump to Bernie Madoff, who defrauded his investment clients out of billions of dollars.

“Donald Trump is sort of to politics what Bernie Madoff was to investment,” Vilsack, who is reportedly being considered to serve as presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s running mate, said Saturday afternoon in an interview with NBC News.

{mosads}”He is selling something that people don’t fully understand and appreciate what it actually means.”

Madoff, who operated a Ponzi scheme discovered in December 2008, is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud charges. He fleeced clients of his investment firm out of as much as $65 billion.

During the interview, Vilsack continued to criticize the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, saying he doesn’t trust the candidate.

“I don’t trust someone who says to me we’re going to be a safer nation by bringing torture back,” he said.

“I certainly don’t think it’s going to make us a safer nation by suggesting that more countries need nuclear weapons. So those kinds of statements, those kinds of positions concern me for the safety of my family, and I think Americans will feel that way.”

Vilsack didn’t comment on his own vice presidential vetting process, but he did address critics who say he may not have the foreign policy knowledge necessary for the position.

“Look, here’s what I know about foreign policy: I know that the United States of America is singularly the nation in the world that must be at the center of every problem we face globally. And it must lead that effort; I understand that,” Vilsack said.

“So I’m happy to talk about foreign policy. I’m happy to talk about America’s relationship in the world. I’m happy to talk about the intricacies of the economics and the military aspects of all of this. Bring it on.”