Bernie Sanders has been making the argument that he can swing Trump supporters over to his camp. He first said this to Rachel Maddow back in November, and I have heard it several times since then.
Bernie has consistently maintained that Trump supporters are working class people who are taking out their grievances on minorities and others, rather than addressing the rigged political and socio-economic system that has let them down. Bernie has for some time been saying that Trump is a demagogue who does “what demagogues do ... scapegoating others.” And Bernie has asserted that his message of economic justice would resonate with those voters, and he could peel away many Trump supporters.
But on CBS Face the Nation last week he seems to have struck bone.
“This is a guy who does not want to raise minimum wage,” he said of Trump. “In fact, he has said that wages in America are too high.”
It is almost laughable in how Trump reacted, the Trump Twitter feed exploded, essentially saying “no I didn't” and calling Bernie a liar. But Trump made that statement during the first GOP debate and there is video and sound bites galore to show that this is indeed what he said.
So now he is walking it back:
“Wages in are [sic] country are too low, good jobs are too few, and people have lost faith in our leaders. We need smart and strong leadership now!” Trump tweeted on Monday.
Now, here’s the question:
If Hillary is the “most electable” one, and the number one target for all GOP candidates, then I would like Hillary supporters to come up with a similar example of something that Hillary said that forced Trump to modify his stance on anything.
I expect you cannot.
Which begs the question: how is it that Trump even cares about what Bernie Sanders says?
I assert that it is because Trump — like Ann Coulter — knows that Bernie would walk away with the Presidency if he became the nominee. Hillary is the weakest General Election candidate in decades, if not generations. Her negatives are matched only by those of Trump himself.
By contrast, Bernie has a universal appeal, pulls in Independents, young people and those that may not have been politically engaged heretofore.
The MSM ignores Bernie, but Trump is smart. He knows that Bernie poses the biggest threat to himself and to any GOP candidate, and so he cannot afford to let Bernie get out in front of him on anything.
Most importantly: Hillary has not been able to land a glove on Trump. Her criticism of Trump only gives him strength. Bernie is the one ONLY who can weaken Trump by taking away his supporters.
Hillary cannot do that.
