Why does Trump complain about Bernie Sanders being treated unfairly?

A strong Sanders splits the democrats, which is good for Trump. It is to Trump’s advantage to support Sanders. That simple.

Trump may be an ass, but he is a clever and conniving ass.

I do think he believes he has better chances against Bernie, as well as some personal admiration. Also, I think you’re misrepresenting the feelings of many Christian Reps for the Jewish people. Trump will never use race or religion like that, against a Jew because it would completely alienate his Christian voters.
(If he was a true racist as he’s been portrayed, he would 100% use it to gain the votes of the far right WS group, but he’d lose far more votes from regular Christians, in my opinion.)

He thinks Sanders will be easy to beat.

@KNOWITALL I generally agree with what you wrote, but I take issue with one sentence.

You wrote: Trump will never….against a Jew because it would completely alienate his Christian voters

I agree that Trump himself won’t. The problem is that some Trump followers, probably with less nuance or sensitivity, will misinterpret what Trump is saying and that group will act in an anti-semitic way.

That’s why leadership counts – an leaders need to be sensitive to how their remarks can be misused.

To answer your question: He’s not speaking “in favor of” Sanders. He’s attacking the Democratic party and DNC as corrupt. It’s easy, because its all on display, and he can mention how “crazy Bernie” is being treated to show just how awful those Democrats are. It paints them as elite and anti-democratic.

He may be partly right, but this doesn’t mean that the Republicans would rather run against Bernie. The overwhelming evidence and data suggests that this would their hardest opponent – just like in 2016. And if you’re suggesting that the tweets that attack the Dem establishment’s treatment of Bernie somehow imply that he would prefer to run against Bernie, think about what you are suggesting. This would mean that he believes that Democrats value his opinion of the Democratic candidates. Re-read this last sentence a few times.

Additionally, the attempts at trying to read sanity into Trump’s tweets by some is pretty silly. You could easily say that Trump is pretending to prefer Bernie in hopes that it turns off the Democrats against Bernie so he doesn’t have to run against him. Come on.

@elbanditoroso No one can control what fringe groups do or think, so you’re right, of course. If there are WS or NN groups that see Bernie as a threat to Trump possibly.

But by his actions and words over the last three years, Trump has made his stance perfectly clear to the rest of us.

@elbanditoroso “A strong Sanders splits the democrats, which is good for Trump. It is to Trump’s advantage to support Sanders.”

Sorry, but this is factually incorrect. Bernie pulls in typical non-voters into the fold. This is the largest plurality of the electorate. Also Trump knows that Bernie is the hardest to beat.

@KNOWITALL , Wouldn’t you agree that socialism violates Christian values? It would make such good sense for Trump to say this. Only someone who is not a true Christian, a Jew for example, could advocate socialism. There are plenty of Christians who are pro-Israel and also anti-Semitic who would eat this stuff up.

It’s strategy. On one hand, he thinks he’s strongest against Sanders in 2020, which he might be, but that doesn’t mean he’ll win.

He was using it as a line in 2016 to make Bernie voters not vote for Clinton and it probably worked then, 25% of Bernie voters didn’t vote Clinton.

It’s a possibility that again, Sanders is defeated by a popular vote of the Democratic Party members, and Trump will have already loaded his “DNC so corrupt” shotgun well ahead to time to capitalize on the young voter apathy that is sure to follow.

I’m sure Trump would prefer to run against Bernie. He will claim that he’s a communist. That would play well, with his base. And Sanders, is radically left..
I think Trump will win, in 2020. But, a far leftist, would make it easier. Sanders, is a self proclaimed socialist. That should make for easy pickings, to his base, and moderates…
Trump, won’t even lose the popular vote. If he’s running against Bernie…

@Smashley , That makes the most sense. Trump is just trying to split the Democratic party, so that there will be resentment if either Sanders or someone other than Sanders gets the nomination.

@LostInParadise There is Christian Socialism, of course, which echoes many sentiments of Christian values, such as helping the poor, sharing with the less fortunate, etc… So I wouldn’t say that socialism violates Christian values, as a black and white statement.

And remember that all three, Christianity, Judaism and Islam are all three Abrahamic religions with many things in common.

“There are plenty of Christians who are pro-Israel and also anti-Semitic who would eat this stuff up.”
I’ll take your word on that because I believe that those people are very few in comparison.

@MrGrimm888 – I have Bernie reservations, but I think that for sure he has the potential to assemble a very different coalition than most of the other contenders, and engage with the apathetic. The party will probably fall in line if they see the writing on the wall. I believe you’re too certain by a long shot. Nothing is written. Witness Bernie’s line against Bloomberg’s communist accusation in the last debate. The notion that corporate America already gets socialist protections while the people get screwed has traction. Young people have been told for decades that everything they want is communist or socialist, and therefore they can’t have it. Attacking Bernie in this way will only work for certain generations of people.

Trump recognizes that it was the butt-hurt Bernie supporters that helped him win in 2016. By claiming Bernie was cheated, he sows discord among Bernie bros, and supports the candidate he wants to run against.

@filmfann: “he sows discord among Bernie bros”

If I understand your claim here, you are saying that there are Bernie supporters (note: stop using “Bernie Bros”) who care what Trump has to say? And by pointing out how the DNC worked to try to stop Sanders, Trump was an influence on the these people?

Please elaborate. I’m not sure you’ve thought this through.

Additionally, as I mentioned above, you are implicitly claiming that liberals will see Trump “speak in favor of” Bernie and decide to vote for him?

You’re claiming that both the left and liberals are quite interested in Trump’s opinion, and his tweets are straighforward expressions of preference meant to influence the left and liberals?

EDIT: From the “great answers” you comment has received, I’ll take it there you are correct that at least liberals listen to Trump. I’d love to hear from them!

@hmmmmmm I listen to Trump, I evaluate what he says, and most of the time I determine that he’s a lunatic.

But you have to listen to him in order to know how far off he is.

I don’t accept your binary distinction between liberals and progressives; I find that divisive. I would certainly never be influenced to vote in any way by anything Trump says but I do think he is trying to fan the flames of divisiveness and create chaos in the opposition. The more we do that ourselves, the more we play into his hands.

@MrGrimm888 “He will claim that he’s a communist. That would play well, with his base.”

This is shallow analysis. People have been calling Bernie a communist for decades and it’s not as radioactive a word as the media would have you believe. Believe it or not, Republicans have sick kids with copays, deductibles and drugs they can’t afford too. Republicans would like to send their kids to college tuition-free too. Republicans don’t want their Social Security cut. Plenty of Republicans want marijuana legalized.

Trumps going to call whoever the Democratic nominee is a “communist,” regardless of how inaccurate the term is. If it were Bloomberg or Buttigieg etc, then they would deny it and look weak with something to hide. They would be playing into Trump’s framing and allowing Trump to dictate the debate.

When it’s Bernie on the other hand, he can own that shit and say “Yes, I’m a Democratic Socialist and here’s why that’s a good thing…” Do you believe in fire departments? That’s socialism. Do you believe in free K-12 public education? That’s socialism. Do you believe in public libraries? That’s socialism. Do you like Social Security? That’s socialism. etc… It allows Bernie to rebrand the word and reframe the discussion and put Trump on the defensive.

Furthermore, Bernie can make the case that Trump is a socialist for billionaires (which is true). The idea that there is a massive pool of independent voters lingering between the extreme left of the Democratic party and the Republican extreme right is simply not at all an accurate model of the demographics of the electorate.

Here’s an article everyone should read: The Moderate Middle is A Myth.

Only 2.4% of the electorate is “undecided,” “moderate” and “independent.”

“And even this super small middle of the middle is … you guessed it … all over the ideological map. Rare as these voters are, anybody who talks about winning over undecided, independent, moderate voters should first address the question: which undecided, independent, moderate voters?”

Bernie’s policies are very popular, he is by far the most electable as evidenced by his crushing lead in the polls, the fact that he’s the first ever candidate to win the popular vote in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. He’s also not that radical when you look at his positions in the historical context of the Democratic party. Pick up a history book and read up on the New Deal.

Trump might be calling out how Bernie is being treated for a couple reasons. The screw job is indicative of the Swamp and Trump always calls out the swamp. It also stirs up the discontent in the Democrat party. The upper echelon of the DNC recognizes it is politically destructive to be the first party (other than the Socialist Party) to actually nominate an affirmed Socialist as a POTUS contender. Yet if they steal the nomination from Sanders (as seems likely), they run the risk of driving Bernie supporters to Trump. It is an uncomfortable positions for the DNC and Trump poking at it continues to amp up the discomfort.

Because he has experienced being treated unfairly by the same people.

^ As above.

@hmmmmmm
1) Trump talks loudly. Even when he tweets, his comments are reported and echoed.
2) When people hear something they agree with, it reinforces their beliefs, regardless of the source.
3) Even Sanders has referred to the Bernie Bros. If it offends you, it’s not my fault, but I will try to watch my usage. I’m surprised that is what offended you, and not “butt-hurt”.

@filmfann: “2. When people hear something they agree with, it reinforces their beliefs, regardless of the source.”

So, when Trump states something that reinforces your belief, you find it valuable?

@filmfann: “3. Even Sanders has referred to the Bernie Bros. If it offends you, it’s not my fault, but I will try to watch my usage. I’m surprised that is what offended you, and not “butt-hurt”.”

It doesn’t offend me. I’m just making sure you don’t embarrass yourself and say something that some consider to be a sexist and racist expression that was created for political attack. When you talk about Bernie supporters, you’re talking about a very diverse group.

And “butt-hurt” is just embarrassing. You’d think that you would have learned something in 4 years. Out of every possible group you can blame for Trump, Bernie Sanders supporters are objectively the least responsible. The fact that you still haven’t learned this and repeating myth tells me that you’re not terribly interested in avoiding the same mistake this time.

@KNOWITALL , If there are enough others like yourself who see a connection between Judaeo-Christian values and socialism then that might be a good way of speaking to Evangelicals. I would think that there are more who equate socialists with the godless communists.

Like it, or not, Bernie is the reason Trump won…

He got votes, that would have went to Hillary…

And, I think he’s far too left, to conquer Trumpers, and moderates…..

I’ll bet you all, a shinny nickel, that Trump will beat Sanders.

I hope I’m wrong… But. Sanders, is too radical, and an easy target of the Trump campaign…

Don’t get me wrong. I agree with everything you all are saying, but Trump will win. Again.
Doesn’t make sense, but it will happen…

@MrGrimm888 ”Like it, or not, Bernie is the reason Trump won…

He got votes, that would have went to Hillary…”

I’m calling bullshit on this one. Bernie brings in people who never would have voted for Hillary included people who don’t normally vote, independents, and even some Republicans. Had Bernie not been in the race, Clinton would have not won their vote, myself included.

The radical element here is a Democratic establishment that has drifted so far to the right that their biggest accomplishment in the past 30 years was passing the Republican healthcare plan from the Heritage Foundation. Bernie’s policies are incredibly popular, and entirely consistent with decades of working-class, New Deal Democratic platforms (e.g. FDR & JFK).

Supporting trickledown economics is the radical position. Wasting trillions on endless wars is the radical position. Taking campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry, big pharma, big agra, military contractors, health insurance companies, banks, private prisons, and payday lenders is radical.

The data doesn’t support your clams. 60% of the country earns less than $40k per year. They are willing to listen to a pro-worker, populist message.

If Bernie had been the nominee in 2016 he would have won Wisconsin for the very reasons @gorillapaws just stated. Wisconsin has a long history with the progressive party and Bernie is very popular here. The DNC gave us Hillary and this is why Wisconsin went to Trump. A moderate Democrat won’t win here in this political climate.

OK . Maybe I’m wrong….

It weakens statements like, “I am the strongest candidate to defeat Trump.” To align himself with Bernie would cause Trump haters to veer away.

@Patty Do you think that’s it?! Even a sentence by Trump in Bernie’s defense can hurt Bernie’s chances? Now that would indeed be sneaky haha!

He has previously stated he would rather face Biden than Bernie.

It’s hard for me, to see Bernie beating Trump.

Bernie won’t beat Trump. He is beating the hell out of Amy though.

@Grimmy Me too.

@hmmmmmm Sanders announced that if he said he supported Hillary, his supporters should ignore it. When he did, and then wrote the democratic platform for 2016, his supporters went elsewhere.

@filmfann What are you talking about?

@filmfann You really need to let it go. His supporters were a mix of independents, non voters, republicans, democrats and other parties. Hillary and the Democrats weren’t entitled to their vote just because Bernie wasn’t the nominee. He brought people together who weren’t going to vote for any other nominee in the Democratic field. Remember, he was an Independent. He had to run as a Democrat because we are stuck with a worthless two party system.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/10/third-party-candidate-gary-johnson-jill-stein-clinton-loss

There are three other possibilities besides choosing Clinton as a second choice candidate:

1. Those voters might have chosen a different third-party candidate. For example, Johnson voters might have switched to Stein, or vice versa. If so, that would have had no effect on Trump’s chances of winning.

2. Those voters might have chosen to stay at home rather than vote for someone who wasn’t their first choice. If so, they again wouldn’t have changed Trump’s victory over Clinton – except to make it even larger as a share of all votes cast.

3. Those voters might have chosen Trump as their second-choice candidate. If so, they not only would have secured Trump as the winner of the national popular vote, they could have also bumped up his electoral college votes by claiming Democratic states like Virginia, Minnesota, Colorado and New Hampshire, where Clinton won by a smaller number of votes than those cast for third-party candidates.

In reality, it’s some combination of all of the above. Some third-party voters could have chosen to stay at home, some could have voted for Clinton, and some for Trump. (People don’t act in perfect herds. If pollsters had better understood that, perhaps they wouldn’t have got this election so badly wrong.)

^I agree, to an extent. But. I think it Sanders had dropped out, a lot of his votes would have gone to Hillary.
There were indeed many variables. But. I think Bernie, was the main reason Trump won…
We’ll never really know, of course.

@filmfann: “Sanders announced that if he said he supported Hillary, his supporters should ignore it.”

This is a complete lie (or confusion on your part). What are you talking about?

@MrGrimm888 “I think it Sanders had dropped out, a lot of his votes would have gone to Hillary.”

Nearly all of them did. More Bernie voters went for Clinton in ‘16 than Clinton voters went for Obama in ‘08… This is a reasonable summary.

^Okay. Hillary still had almost 3miollon votes, on her side.
Hard to say, she lost….

@Jonsblond As a result of Bernie supporters voting for Dr. Whatzhername, we have Trump. Hillary wasn’t entitled to their votes, but their failure to support her has lead to where we are.

^Did you not read my link? Continue to put your fingers in your ears. It only hurts you. Instead of being butthurt (your words) use some common sense.

@filmfann If Bernie and Jill Stein were never born I would have voted for “Mickey mouse.” Would you blame Mickey in that case?

@gorillapaws If you don’t vote for a viable candidate against Trump, you help him win.

@filmfann So in the interest of defeating Trump now, you’re supporting Bernie in the primary, right?

I will support the democratic nominee.

^Even if you think that person, isn’t the best candidate?

At that point, the nominee is the candidate who is best positioned to beat Trump. Why would I still insist on voting for a non-viable candidate?

Because. In a true democracy, you should vote for the best candidate. Not, the lesser of two evils…