Trump sees Sanders as Democratic front-runner

President Trump on Wednesday said he thinks Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has emerged as the front-runner in the Democratic presidential nominating contest. 

“People like his message. He’s got energy, his people have energy,” Trump said. “But they like his message, but a lot of people don’t like that particular message.

“Whoever it is, we’ll take them on,” he added. “But it would certainly seem that Bernie Sanders has the advantage right now.”

Trump made the remark a day after the Vermont senator won the New Hampshire primary. Some Democrats fear Sanders, an independent who identifies as a democratic socialist, could be a weak general election candidate, and some believe Trump as a result may prefer him to win the Democratic nomination. 

Trump, who has mocked Sanders with the nickname of “Crazy Bernie,” said Tuesday afternoon that he would rather face former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg in a general election than the senator, “because Sanders has real followers.”

Pundits have drawn comparisons between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Sanders’s campaign in terms of the energy of their supporters and appeal to working-class voters. Trump filled the Southern New Hampshire University Arena on Monday night, while Sanders attracted thousands to his own event an hour away.