In Private, Trump Acknowledges Appeal Of Bernie And Warren’s Messaging

on January 19, 2018 in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 19: U.S. President Donald Trump stands in the colonnade as he is introduced to speak to March for Life participants and pro-life leaders in the Rose Garden at the White House on January 19, ... WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 19: U.S. President Donald Trump stands in the colonnade as he is introduced to speak to March for Life participants and pro-life leaders in the Rose Garden at the White House on January 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. The annual march takes place around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court decision that came on January 22, 1974. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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While he’s never admitted it publicly, President Trump is privately concerned that 2020 hopefuls Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have a message that might be hard to beat politically, The Daily Beast reported late Sunday. 

According to four Republicans close to Trump who have heard the latest admissions, Trump has told friends and donors that he doesn’t think the “socialism” agenda will be “easy” to beat in a general election, according to the Daily Beast. Trump reportedly told donors in private last month that he understood the appeal of major components of Warren and Sanders’ presidential platform regarding student loan debt removal, calling it a “tough” position to run against.

“A lot of people think it’ll be easy to beat [in 2020],” he reportedly said. The “truth is, it might not be so easy. … You can have someone who loves Trump, but many people love free stuff, too.”

In public, Trump’s tone is significantly different. The mercurial President and the rest of the Republican Party have taken great pains to try to illustrate Warren and Sanders and other Democrats as socialists who mean to destroy the capitalistic American ideal.

Read the Daily Beast’s full report here. 

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