Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made the case Tuesday that he — not likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton — should inherit supporters from far-left candidate Sen. Bernard Sanders.
As Mr. Sanders effectively ended his run for the Democratic nomination and delivered a long-delayed endorsement of Mrs. Clinton, the Trump campaign blasted out a series of emails detailing Mr. Sanders’ previous attacks on Mrs. Clinton.
The issues highlighted by the Trump campaign were all key to the grassroots movement inspired by Mr. Sanders. They included jabs at Mrs. Clinton’s ties to Wall Street, support for trade deals, interventionist foreign policy that led to war in Iraq and Libya, and inconsistent positions on raising the minimum wage and backing gay rights.
“Today, Bernie Sanders will be endorsing one of the most pro-war, pro-Wall Street, and pro-off shoring candidates in the history of the Democratic Party. The candidate who ran against special interests is endorsing the candidate who embodies special interests,” said Trump campaign senior policy adviser Stephen Miller.
The Trump campaign hopes to find fertile ground for cross-over voters among the more than 13 million people who cast ballots for Mr. Sanders in the Democratic primaries. Many of those voters still harbor doubts about the former secretary of state.
A Bloomberg poll last month found that barely half of Mr. Sanders’ supporters — 55 percent — did not plan to vote for Mrs. Clinton. Instead, 22 percent said they would vote for Mr. Trump, and 18 percent said they would back Libertarian Gary Johnson.
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Still, Mr. Sanders has stressed his desire for Mrs. Clinton to beat Mr. Trump in November.
“I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president,” Mr. Sanders said, delivering the endorsement with Mrs. Clinton at a rally in New Hampshire.
Speaking after Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Clinton declared: “We are joining forces to defeat Donald Trump!”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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