Is President Trump teaming up with Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist – Vermont)? Maybe not, but this weekend it certainly sounded like he was trying to give him a hand in the Democratic primary. As Politico reported yesterday, the President took a break from his campaign activities to warn Sanders that the DNC was once again messing around with him and trying to toss the nomination to “Sleepy” Joe Biden.
The Democratic Party is again trying to manipulate its presidential primary elections, President Donald Trump suggested in a two-part tweet on Saturday night.
“The Democratic National Committee, sometimes referred to as the DNC, is again working its magic in its quest to destroy Crazy Bernie Sanders….,” the president began, following those remarks with: “….for the more traditional, but not very bright, Sleepy Joe Biden. Here we go again Bernie, but this time please show a little more anger and indignation when you get screwed!“
Sanders, whom Trump frequently refers to as “Crazy Bernie,” doesn’t usually get Trump‘s sympathy or support, except when the president is implying that Democrats are doing inappropriate things to keep him away from the party’s presidential nomination.
….for the more traditional, but not very bright, Sleepy Joe Biden. Here we go again Bernie, but this time please show a little more anger and indignation when you get screwed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2019
We’ve yet to see any proof that the Democratic National Committee is actually trying to do a rerun of 2016 and railroad Sanders. Granted, when he was running against Hillary Clinton people were surreptitiously feeding his opponent some debate questions in advance and some of his campaign funds mysteriously seemed to be “diverted” away from his coffers. But I’d assumed they learned their lesson after being caught and would let this one play out on a level field.
Whether any of these shenanigans are going on or not, I’d be willing to bet that there was a reason behind that pair of presidential tweets. Donald Trump is already playing a long game with an eye toward next November. If he can manage to fuel any suspicions along these lines, Sanders’ supporters (many of whom are still holding a grudge from 2016) will become incensed, while undecided voters might see it as a cloud over Joe Biden’s campaign.
If that fires up the Bernie Bros to get out the vote and puts a dent in Biden’s support, it doesn’t get much better than that for the President. After all, who would he rather face next yet? Bernie Sanders has the socialist albatross tied around his neck and, at least in my opinion, is close to the most unelectable candidate in the crowded Democratic field. And as I’ve opined here numerous times, Joe Biden is just about the polar opposite.
Bernie is a gruff curmudgeon. Uncle Joe remains a very likable character, despite his personal space intrusion issues. Sanders has a basket full of crazy ideas and no real record outside of his home state. Biden will be seen as the more stable, traditional, establishment Democratic candidate and he’s got a resume that nobody else can come close to in terms of experience. In short, Sanders is viewed as a new and possibly unstable element in the equation. Joe Biden is a known quantity that moderates and independents will be comfortable voting for in November.
So if you’re Donald Trump, which one of them would you rather see facing off with you on the debate stage and the ballot box? Seems like a pretty easy call to me. If Bernie runs short of campaign cash I wouldn’t be all that shocked if Trump didn’t offer to help him out, at least for the primary.