Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sat down for an interview with the Los Angeles Times editorial board this week and claimed that he would be a better general election candidate than rival Hillary Clinton.
Asked if the higher voter turnout in the Democratic caucuses had anything to do with Trump, Sanders said “no”. Yet he acknowledged that Trump has single-handedly been responsible for bringing “out a whole lot of people.”
Sanders referred to a CNN poll that parallels several others, and which shows him beating Trump by 20 points — versus Clinton, who is projected to beat Trump by 12 points. (The poll also shows Ohio Gov. John Kasich beating Clinton by 6 points and has Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tied with her.)
“People want to vote for Hillary Clinton, that’s fine. But it is not fine when people say Hillary Clinton is the one who is going to beat Donald Trump. I would urge you, go to your website, look up virtually all of the current polls,” Sanders told the Times. He added, “If Democrats want to defeat a Republican candidate, Trump or anybody else, I think the evidence is overwhelming: I am that candidate.”
With just two months to go until the June primary in California, Sanders and Clinton have arrived in the Golden State to campaign and rally for support. Clinton, who enjoyed a wide lead in the most recent poll, is scheduled to appear at a $175,000-per-plate fundraiser hosted by actor George Clooney at his Studio City home next month.
Sanders’s entire interview with the Los Angeles Times can be found here.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz.