Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called President Trump a racist and said Trump’s immigration policies are “terrorizing people.”
“I think President Trump, and I say this without any joy in my heart, I think he is a racist,” Sanders said during an interview with “Noticias Telemundo,” highlights of which aired Sunday. “I think the things that he’s been saying about the Latino community from way back when … the people from Mexico, whether they’re rapists and they’re criminals. You remember all of that stuff. It’s disgusting.”
When he announced his campaign in June 2015, Trump said rapists were among the people Mexico was “sending” across the border.
The Vermont senator called for immigration reform legislation that would provide “a path toward citizenship” for illegal aliens.
“We need comprehensive immigration reform, not terrorizing people,” he said. “You got millions of people who are scared to death today.”
Sanders, who has long been criticized by Democrats for not being tough enough on the gun lobby, attacked the National Rifle Association, saying it had become a tool of conservatives.
“We have to take on the NRA,” he said, adding that it was “now a right-wing political force.”
