Sanders declines to grade Obama presidency, but says he’s an ‘A+’ compared to Trump

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a 2020 presidential contender, said Sunday that he wouldn’t give former President Barack Obama a “grade” on his presidency.

Speaking to ABC News’s “This Week” host Jon Karl, Sanders conceded that Obama gets an “A+” in his book compared to President Trump.

{mosads}“Barack Obama was a very, very good president,” Sanders said.

“What grade would you give him?” Karl asked.

“I’m not going to give him a grade,” the Vermont senator continued. “Compared to the guy you have in the White House now, I’ll give him an A+.”

“Barack Obama was a very, very good president .. I’m not going to give him a grade,” Sen. Bernie Sanders says when asked how he would rate Obama, but adds, “compared to the guy you have in the White House now, I’ll give him an A+” https://t.co/WzW2mP9HYN pic.twitter.com/GAk1zBm84e

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 5, 2019

Karl then noted that Trump and Republicans have expressed eagerness to run against Sanders and his ideology as a socialist, and asked Sanders if it was time for him to “disavow that label.”

“Anytime you do things for the people and you stand up to the wealthy and powerful, you’ll be labeled this that and the other thing,” Sanders said.

“All of the issues that we have talked about, these are ideas that in one form or another are in fact supported by the American people.”

Polls have repeatedly showed Sanders, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton in 2016, as a front-runner in the 2020 race. He is expected to go head-to-head with Obama’s former Vice President Joe Biden, who has worked to tie himself closely to the former president since launching his campaign.