Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders didn’t find much to like in President Donald Trump’s Tuesday night reelection campaign launch in Orlando.
The Vermont Independent senator claimed Tuesday night that Trump’s speech was all about dividing the nation over racial, fiscal and political differences.
“We have a president who is a racist, who is a sexist, who is a homophone, who is a xenophobe and he is a religious bigot,” Sanders said in a livestream video to his followers.
“His strategy to win reelection is to divide people up,” he said, adding that watching the event was a real “experience” because Trump’s words were “lies, distortions and total absolute nonsense.”
Trump launched his 2020 re-election campaign in front of an enthusiastic, capacity crowd that chanted “four more years” and “make America great again,” as he recognized South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in the crowd.
The president told the crowd that the attacks on his presidency over the last two years were also directed against his supporters. (RELATED: Trump Supporters Already Lining Up For Florida Rally 40 Hours In Advance)
U. S. President Donald Trump announces his candidacy for a second presidential term at the Amway Center on June 18th in Orlando, Florida, President Trump is set to run against a wide open Democratic field of candidates. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
While Trump listed all of his economic achievements, including the all time lowest unemployment for blacks , Sanders insisted that major economic disparity still exists in America. Sanders, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, said he was upset that the president devoted no time at all to discussing climate change — although Trump did mention that he had taken the United States out of the Paris climate accord.
“Listening to Trump made me feel very much that he is a man living in a parallel universe, a man out of touch with the various needs of people,” Sanders said. (RELATED: The Key To Winning In 2020 Will Be Properly Explaining Socialism, Says Bernie Sanders)
Sanders, who was leading the Democratic pack of presidential hopefuls before former Vice President Joe Biden joined the mix, has seen his numbers fall in the last month — and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg are apparently the beneficiaries of that falling support.
Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, Iowa, U.S. June 11, 2019. REUTERS/Jordan Gale
The senator didn’t focus on his own position but suggested any of the top five Democratic contenders could unseat Trump.
“We got a lot to do,” he said. “But our job most importantly is to defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country. Our job is to keep our eyes on the prize.”