- President Donald Trump on Wednesday tried to stir divisions between factions of the Democratic party in the wake of the Super Tuesday elections.
- He criticized Sen. Elizabeth Warren for staying in the race despite a poor showing and harming the chances of Sen. Bernie Sanders.
- Trump blamed Tuesday’s result, in which Sanders performed worse than some had expected, on a “Democrat establishment” plot.
- He also trolled Mike Bloomberg, who dropped out of the race after notching only one Super Tuesday win despite a huge advertising spend.
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President Donald Trump renewed his bid to stir divisions in the Democratic party after the March 3 Super Tuesday elections, seeking to stoke fears among Bernie Sanders supporters that the primary race was being stacked against their candidate.
“The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN! Even the fact that Elizabeth Warren stayed in the race was devastating to Bernie and allowed Sleepy Joe to unthinkably win Massachusetts. It was a perfect storm, with many good states remaining for Joe!” tweeted the president early Wednesday, after centrist Joe Biden leap-frogged Sanders and regained his status as front-runner.
The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN! Even the fact that Elizabeth Warren stayed in the race was devastating to Bernie and allowed Sleepy Joe to unthinkably win Massachusetts. It was a perfect storm, with many good states remaining for Joe!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2020
He went on the blame Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is vying with Sanders for support of the party's progressive wing, for staying in the contest, which he claimed cost Sanders votes.
"So selfish for Elizabeth Warren to stay in the race. She has Zero chance of even coming close to winning, but hurts Bernie badly. So much for their wonderful liberal friendship. Will he ever speak to her again? She cost him Massachusetts (and came in third), he shouldn't!" tweeted Trump, referring to Biden's surprise victory in Warren's home state Tuesday, which pushed Sanders and Warren into second and third place, respectively.
The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN! Even the fact that Elizabeth Warren stayed in the race was devastating to Bernie and allowed Sleepy Joe to unthinkably win Massachusetts. It was a perfect storm, with many good states remaining for Joe!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2020
Trump has long sought to exacerbate divisions between Democratic candidates seeking to deny him a second term in office and their supporters.
Past and present advisers to Trump told The Atlantic in February that Trump sees Sanders as the weakest of the top Democratic candidates - and isn't standing in the way of his rise.
He reportedly believes that if Sanders wins the Democratic nomination, he will be able to paint him as a radical socialist hostile to American values, but if Sanders fails he can portray the result as a conspiracy by elites in the Democratic party and drive down turnout among progressive Democrats.
As recently as last week Trump's strategists had written off Biden's chances, with the former vice president flopping in the first primary and causus of the contest, Politico reported Wednesday, but are gearing up to launch new attacks on him.
The attacks have become increasingly personal, with Trump on Tuesday tweeting out an edited video which appeared to show Biden briefly mistaking his wife for his sister at a campaign event on Tuesday. Other attacks will likely focus on Biden and his actions in Ukraine, a campaign that resulted last year in Trump's impeachment last year on charges of seeking to enlist a foreign power to smear a domestic rival. The president was acquitted of the charges by the Republican-controlled US Senate in January.
Trump on Wednesday also gloated over Mike Bloomberg's decision to drop out of the race, after the former New York City mayor spent an estimated $500 million on an advertising blitz to boost his candidacy to notch only one win - in American Samoa.
"Mini Mike Bloomberg just 'quit' the race for President. I could have told him long ago that he didn't have what it takes, and he would have saved himself a billion dollars, the real cost. Now he will pour money into Sleepy Joe's campaign, hoping to save face. It won't work!" Trump tweeted.