Bernie Sanders says he appreciates Donald Trump’s appeal for him to compete in the presidential general election as a third-party candidate, but hopes he can face the GOP’s leading candidate as the Democratic nominee.
In an appearance Thursday evening on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show, the senator from Vermont joked that it was a little “self-serving” of Trump to suggest that he make an independent run should he lose the nomination to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which could split Democratic voters.
Sanders added, “I appreciate his concern. I’m sure it comes straight from his heart.”
Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, has said that Sanders is the victim of a “rigged” Democratic primary process — something which Sanders himself has said. Sanders has often railed against the Democratic Party’s use of superdelegates, unbound party officials, who have overwhelmingly backed Clinton, all but guaranteeing her the party’s nomination.
Still, Sanders has pledged to ride the nomination contest all the way the Democratic convention in July, where he hopes to come out on top in a contested convention.
“What I hope will happen is I will run against [Trump] as Democratic nominee,” Sanders told host Jimmy Kimmel. “We’re going to beat him and beat him bad.”
