Trump: Democrats will ‘never allow’ Sanders to win

by Jonathan Easley - 01/23/20 4:48 PM ET

President Trump on Thursday declared that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had taken the lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but said he does not believe that the national party will “allow” Sanders to win.

“Crazy Bernie takes the lead in the Democrat Primaries, but it is looking more and more like the Dems will never allow him to win! Will Sleepy Joe be able to stumble across the finish line?” Trump tweeted, using nicknames for Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Crazy Bernie takes the lead in the Democrat Primaries, but it is looking more and more like the Dems will never allow him to win! Will Sleepy Joe be able to stumble across the finish line?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2020

The remarks echoed tweets Trump sent last week claiming that Democratic leaders were seeking to undermine Sanders’s bid by keeping him off the campaign trail for the Senate impeachment trial.

“They are rigging the election again against Bernie Sanders, just like last time, only even more obviously,” Trump declared.

The president’s latest comments come as Sanders is rising in new national and early state polls.

A CNN national survey released this week found Sanders overtaking Biden for the first time. And a WBUR News survey of New Hampshire found Sanders opening up a 12 point lead over the next closest contender in the Granite State.

The Trump campaign has taken notice and has increasingly directed its attacks at Sanders, casting him as a hypocrite on climate change who “lectures Americans on how to live their lives while doing the exact opposite” and warning that he “can’t be trusted to defend American lives” as commander in chief.

Still, there is no evidence that the Democratic establishment might be looking to intervene to block Sanders from winning the nomination if he continues to grow in strength.

The Democratic National Committee has weakened the power of superdelegates, who helped propel Hillary Clinton to the nomination in 2016.

And Sanders appears to have become more palatable to many mainstream Democrats this time around, as polling finds him with a diverse base of supporters.

Last week, Sanders responded to a Trump tweet about how he was rising in the polls, concluding that “it means you’re going to lose.”