‘Opportunist' Donald Trump 'significantly damaged’ America: Bernie Sanders

 

US Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally in Anaheim, California on May 24, 2016, ahead of the June 7 California vote. (AFP photo)

US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has called presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump a “very dangerous man,” saying he has “already significantly damaged this country.”

“I think Trump is incredibly irresponsible and an incredibly dangerous person,” Sanders said in an interview with the Rolling Stone magazine published on Tuesday.

“A man who is primarily a showman and an opportunist and an egomaniac. A man who has already significantly damaged this country with his attacks on Mexicans and Muslims and women and veterans and African-Americans and so forth. Very dangerous man,” continued Sanders, an Independent senator from Vermont who is seeking the Democratic nomination.

When asked what he would say to his supporters who insist they would rather vote for Trump, than Hillary Clinton, Sanders said, “Wrong question.”

“It’s not, ‘What is my message to them?’ It’s not my job to think that I can reach out and say to millions, ‘Do what I want you to do.’ That’s not the way it works. The question that should be asked is, ‘Why?’ … How come you have millions of people who are prepared to vote for him and not Hillary Clinton? Why is that?”

Clinton is maintaining a strong lead over Sanders in the Democratic presidential race, but the Vermont senator has vowed to stay in the race until the Democratic convention this summer.

On Monday, Sanders claimed that he is more capable than Clinton of defeating Trump, whose campaign has been marred by his controversial remarks, particularly against Muslims and undocumented immigrants.  

Because of the more than 500 superdelegates who have pledged to Clinton’s campaign, she is considered to have nearly won the nomination.

However, a big win in California for Sanders in the state’s June 7 primary election would be a significant problem for the former secretary of state.

Even if Clinton gains enough delegates to capture her party’s presidential nomination, a loss in California would provide a sour and deflating end to her primary campaign.