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Sanders Slams Trump Throughout Campaign, But Trump Barely Fights Back

By Christine Morse

From the archive: published Apr 19, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.

When Sanders slams Trump, the trash talking Trump mostly just takes it. Why?

Is it out of fear, because Donald Trump has seen the polls that indicate that Bernie Sanders, not Hillary Clinton, beats him by the widest margin, as reported in numerous news outlets, including The Inquisitr?

Is Trump trying to avoid engaging with Sanders, because doing so will bring more attention to him, and when Sanders gets attention, he gets more supporters?

By keeping quiet when Bernie “berns” him, is Trump hedging that his quiet will help keep Clinton in the news more than Sanders, and thus she will be more likely to be his (easier to beat) opponent in the general election?

As reported by CNN, Trump seems to always strike back, even to small things, like a post about his wife that mostly reminded people how beautiful his wife is.

But Sanders can repeatedly assert that Trump is “a pathological liar,” as noted by The Guardian, and Trump’s response is a pale quip, or nothing at all.

In fact, about the most that Trump risked saying when Sanders was pummeling him with the label of “liar,” was that “some” of the people at Trump’s rallies were “taunting” Trump supporters and that they “represented Bernie, our communist friend.”

CNN explained that after the wife post, Trump responded to Cruz – who still denies that he was the one posting about Trump’s wife – with a threatening message about “spilling the beans.” And the war over wives began.

Meanwhile, Trump barely responds when Sanders kicks him to the curb on several issues, from racism, as reported in The Huffington Post, to climate change and “being a demagogue.”

Trump had no comeback to Sanders’s mockery, even when it was reported in The Washington Post.

“… the Vermont senator told his audience in a sarcastic tone. ‘How brilliant can you be. The entire scientific community has concluded that climate change is real and causing major problems and Trump believes that it’s a hoax created by the Chinese. Surprised it wasn’t the Mexicans.'”

In recent weeks, Trump has even agreed with Sanders.

Bernie Sanders says that Hillary Clinton is unqualified to be president. Based on her decision making ability, I can go along with that!

When Rubio was still in the race, Trump verbally skewered him, even though Rubio was far from being a frontrunner.

And Trump has not held back with attacks on Clinton. Some may say that Trump chooses to go after people he believes to be a real threat. But that would not explain his lashing out at people who never became major contenders, like Jeb Bush, who dropped out after finishing far behind in South Carolina, according to CBS.

Another theory is that Trump gets media attention more than any candidate, or lately, anyone on earth. USA Today reminds us about the GOP debate wherein previous candidate Ben Carson said, “Can somebody attack me please?”

Carson needed a put-down in order to get air time. Likewise, Trump does a favor to anyone he attacks – he gives them media coverage, that often extends to even more media attention via discussions by television commentators.

If Trump sticks up for himself to Sanders, then Sanders will gain more media coverage, and Trump may be afraid of that.

Many report that the majority of voters in this election are inspired by Trump and Sanders in the same way — with the idea that someone outside of the establishment has a realistic chance of getting to be the president and making major changes in how America functions.

But many reports also say that more of these voters are likely to support Sanders, because they relate to his humility, they like that he has political experience even though he is an outsider, and he presents as a charming, gentlemanly grandfather.

Many people who might otherwise support Trump, or who originally supported Trump, are offended by his brash attitude.

Recently CBS reported that Trump huffed a little in Sanders’ direction, over the Vatican visit, saying, “So the pope gave him five minutes. I wonder why the pope gave him five — he shouldn’t have given him that much time really.”

But where Sanders is landing the kind of punches that have been seen at Trump’s rallies, Trump is simply giving wimpy, sour looks in return, or completely looking the other way.

One can surmise that if Trump believed that he could beat Sanders in the general election, he would stand up and fight back, especially to allegations that he is a pathological liar.

But Trump hitting back may give Sanders that final push into mainstream media that would sooner make him the Democratic nominee – a formidable opponent who, according to polls, has more of a chance of beating Trump than Clinton.

So instead, when Sanders’ calls out Trump, unlike how he responds to other candidates, the Republican frontrunner backs away.

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