With voters headed to the polls on Saturday in South Carolina's "open" Democratic primary, critics are warning President Donald Trump to be careful about what he publicly wishes for after he encouraged Republicans supporters at a rally in the state Friday night to back Sen. Bernie Sanders—declaring him the easiest candidate in the 2020 field to beat in this year's general election.
"Who would be the best candidate for us—not for them?" Trump asked the crowd inside a packed arena in North Charleston.
Trump proceeded to ask the audience who should be included in the makeshift-realtime poll—deciding that Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren (who he again racistly referred to a "Pocahontas"), and Michael Bloomberg (who he called "Mini-Mike") should be left out—and ended up with just Joe Biden ("Sleepy Joe") and Sanders (who he refers to as "Crazy Bernie").
"In other words, who is the weaker of the two?" Trump continued, asking his followers to indicate their preference by cheering. "Meaning, we put it into very simple language: Who the hell is easier to beat?"
Though it was very difficult to judge the difference, based on the video of the rally, Trump concluded: "I think maybe Crazy Bernie has it by a little bit."
Denounced by some Trump critics as a clear case of "ratfucking"—a term used to describe political sabotage and dirty tricks—others warned that the president's effort to interfere in the Democratic primary may not be what it seems and could very easily backfire on him.
Both national and battle-ground state polls consistently show ("here's the math") that Sanders beats Trump in head-to-head matchups—something the Trump campaign is very aware of. As Common Dreams reported last month, a leaked 2018 recording revealed Trump admitting in private that, during the 2016 presidential race, Sanders was the "only one I didn't want [Hillary Clinton] to pick" for vice president following the Democratic convention.
Full report:
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