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Bernie Sanders Thinks Trump Will Lose in 2020
President Donald Trump has been off to a rough start. For one, he has lots of foreign policy problems to work through: the United States' tense relations with Syria and North Korea, and let's not forget the Russia scandal that won't end. Now, one of the most popular politicians of 2016 has said he thinks Trump's second term is dead on arrival. Bernie Sanders doesn't think Trump will last, and he was pretty straightforward about it.
The senator talked with the Associated Press on Wednesday as he prepared to kick off a nationwide tour with Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez on April 17. His take on Trump was pretty brutal:
In terms of the first three months in office, Donald Trump is the least popular president in the history of polling. ... I do not believe that if Trump continues these policies that he's going to be reelected. Nor do I think that the Republicans are going to do well in 2018.
Those policies he's referring to are specifically Trump's support of tax cuts for the rich, budget cuts, and the American Health Care Act, which would strip coverage from millions, the AP reported.
Despite the Electoral College loss, Sanders remained positive about the midterms and, of course, beating Trump in 2020. "The momentum right now is with the progressive movement in this country. And I think the Republicans are on the defensive and will be on the defensive increasingly," Sanders said.
He noted that the Congressional race in Kansas to fill now-CIA director Mike Pompeo's seat was extremely close. Republican Ron Estes won but only by 7 percentage points; Pompeo had won in November with a margin of more than 30 points.
"The Republicans had to spend money like crazy at the end to beat him," Sanders told the AP. "I think that's a very good omen for the future."
Sanders has a busy couple of weeks ahead of him with this tour. He and Perez are hoping to find messaging that will fight Trump successfully. "At a time of massive income and wealth inequality and a shrinking middle class, we need a government which represents all Americans, not just Wall Street, multi-national corporations, and the top 1 percent," they said in a statement. They are going to Portland, Maine, first on Monday. In the following days, there will be visits to Florida, Texas, Nebraska, Kentucky, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.
If Sanders shares this same message about defeating Trump while on the road, he might just be able to continue motivating the Berners out there to turn out for races across the country. That could help Democrats win in 2018 and beyond.