Former Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has some thoughts about Donald Trump that are surprising many of his supporters.
Sanders was among those in attendance at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington, D.C. on Thursday when the topic of Donald Trump came up. Indirectly referencing some of his own sentiments expressed during his presidential campaign, the Vermont Senator said he whole-heartedly believes working class Americans played a role Trump’s election victory. “Mr. Trump campaigned as a populist, campaigned as somebody who is anti-establishment,” Sanders told reporters, according to NPR. “And I have zero doubt that he received the support of many working class people all across the country because of some of the positions that he took.”
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Although many of Sanders’ political ideals are in direct contrast with Trump’s, a commonality between the two is their shared disdain for corporate America. In fact, Sanders said he’d even become an ally for the President-elect if he follows through on his promises to go toe to toe with corporations to further job creation in the country. “During the campaign he said a lot, and we will find out soon enough about whether what he said was sincere,” Sanders said. “Our job is to hold him accountable and we intend to do that.” He later added that if Trump “has the guts” to stand up to corporate America, “he will have an ally with me.”
While Trump may have a potential partner in Sanders by simply standing up to corporations, there’s a slim chance he’ll hear anything similar from the people of color, Muslims, women, veterans or disabled community members he repeatedly insulted during his campaign.