If Bernie Sanders were to take the lead, Democrats might throw the election back to Trump: Analyst

The Democratic Party would do anything, including throwing the election back to President Donald Trump in the 2020 US election, if Bernie Sanders would be taking the lead, as they did for Hillary Clinton, according to Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist. 

Trump on Tuesday attacked Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, calling him “crazy” after the 2020 Democratic presidential challenger released his tax returns that showed him to be a millionaire.

Trump blasted Sanders after he released 10 years of tax returns, revealing he and his wife, Jane, earned over $550,000 in 2018, including $133,000 in income from his Senate salary, and $391,000 in sales of his book, "Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In."

Trump himself has not released his tax returns yet and Democratic lawmakers on Saturday gave him 10 days to do so.

The lawmakers gave tax authorities a final deadline of April 23 to get their hands on the president’s tax returns. The new deadline was announced after an initial April 10 deadline lapsed.

“Trump does have to worry about who the Democrats put up against him but for all the candidates. The two leading candidates right now seem to be Biden and Sanders, with the others trying to beat each other with signature issues. These two have very common roots, working class from working class cities. However, their politics are almost polar opposites and for this the Trump campaign would have to have at least two different strategies in place if either should be nominated. Yet it is far more likely that it would be Biden because the Democratic Party would do anything, including throwing the election back to Trump, if Sanders would be taking the lead, as they did for Hillary Clinton,” Hoenig told Press TV.

“What doesn’t matter is the insults directed at Sanders. Only his true base would buy it and even though the main stream media will work as hard as they can to derail his campaign, in favor of far more conservative candidates like Harris and Booker in particular, the Sanders juggernaut could easily surpass the others as far as popularity, although again not likely to be covered as such, as was the case in 2016,” he stated.

“Imagine Biden vs. Trump. An aw shucks kind of sexual harasser vs. a narcissistic sexual harasser. Many hard core Democrats would loathe the idea of supporting either one as both have a long history of taking right wing and racist positions, with Biden having a longer history of legislating. Sanders would most likely humiliate himself again and support the ticket after his campaign is derailed by the Democratic Party, like in 2016,” he said.

“Trump will do his best to insult Sanders but his followers would see that more as a rallying cry as well as laughing off anything Trump has to say. That might be his only strategy against Sanders as his positions are more acceptable to the majority of voters (including Republican) than any of the other candidates running. Trump’s strategy against Biden is more likely to ‘brag’ about his own successes. A smart campaign doesn’t even mention the opponent’s name. Trump can make the election all about himself, in and of itself, a very risky position to take,” the analyst said.

Sanders made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2016, losing out to Clinton, who in turn was defeated by Trump.

PressTV-'Sanders could defeat Trump in 2020 election'

US Senator Bernie Sanders could defeat President Donald Trump in the 2020 elections if he is nominated by the Democratic Party, an analyst says.

Sanders mounted a fierce challenge to the former secretary of state as he spoke to swelling crowds and garnered passionate support on social media. His 2016 campaign also rejected the use of corporate money and instead relied on small-dollar donations.

His call for universal health care, a $15 minimum wage and free public university education has gained huge strong support among young liberals.

A former mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders won a US House of Representatives seat in 1990, making him the first independent elected to the House in 40 years. In 2006, he won a US Senate seat and in 2018 was voted in for a third six-year term.

Sanders has been a relentless critic of Trump, and has called him “the most dangerous president in modern American history.”

The primaries and caucuses that determine the party's nominee will begin in February 2020 in the US state of Iowa.

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