Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders verbally bashed President Trump after his continued attacks on a quartet of freshman minority House Democrats.
“This is disgusting. This is the most racist outbreak of statements from a president that I have heard in my lifetime, and it must be universally condemned,” the Vermont senator said at a Washington Post event, putting the president in the context of “demagoguery” history.
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“Trump is not smart enough to have invented this himself,” Sanders added. “Demagogues, unfortunately around the world today, are doing pretty well, and Trump in that sense is doing pretty well, but I think that mentality can be defeated. And what we need is the leadership in this country to say we stand together.”
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate similarly did not hold back over the response from congressional Republicans regarding their party’s standard-bearer, which has mostly been that of silence.
“If there’s anything sadder than seeing a racist, bigoted president, it’s seeing the Republican Party collapse,” he said, adding the lack of censure is driven by “fear” of primary challengers who speak to Trump’s base.
Trump has sustained his criticism of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, first issued over the weekend. They are all American citizens, his comments triggering a House vote later Tuesday on an official denouncement from the chamber.
“Our Country is Free, Beautiful and Very Successful. If you hate our Country, or if you are not happy here, you can leave!” he tweeted Tuesday morning
Our Country is Free, Beautiful and Very Successful. If you hate our Country, or if you are not happy here, you can leave!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2019
Trump’s comments come amid House Democratic infighting over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s cautious leadership of the conference. The California Democrat has repeatedly clashed with her more liberal members, given the influence Ocasio-Cortez in particular commands.
Tensions came to a head last month when Pelosi agreed to a $4.6 billion emergency funding bill for border security and to improve conditions at migrant detention centers to the ire of some of her lawmakers.
Sanders on Tuesday also remained confident in his ability to capture his party’s nomination for the right to challenge Trump next year, despite slipping in a slew of early primary polls.
“A lot of working class people out there voted for Trump because they gave up on the political establishment,” he said.
