Sen. Bernard Sanders told a gathering of Latino political leaders Thursday that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump “will not become president,” even as he steered clear of touting likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in his address.
Mr. Sanders said at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) conference in Washington, D.C. that the presence of Mr. Trump has “exacerbated” the fear of immigrant families in the country.
“I firmly believe that Donald Trump will not become president of the United States for a number of reasons, but at the top of the reasons is the fact that the American people in 2016 are not going to vote for a candidate who insults Mexicans and Latinos and Muslims and women and African-Americans,” Mr. Sanders said.
“Our country needs somebody who brings us together — not divides us up,” he said, though he didn’t name Mrs. Clinton in the speech.
Mr. Sanders acknowledged on Wednesday in an interview with C-SPAN that it doesn’t “appear” he will be the Democratic presidential nominee, but he has not explicitly endorsed Mrs. Clinton.
The Vermont senator also talked about the need for comprehensive immigration reform and called for an end to the deportations of immigrant families.
He said the next president should use executive power to act if Congress does not, though the Supreme Court might have thrown a wrench into those plans Thursday.
After Mr. Sanders’ address, the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 on a case involving President Obama’s deportation amnesty, letting stand a lower court ruling that had blocked the president’s action.
Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson was also slated to address the conference Thursday.
But both Mrs. Clinton and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump are skipping the conference. Both major-party presidential nominees addressed the conference in 2008 and 2012.
Mr. Trump is getting ready to head on an overseas trip to Scotland for an event at one of his golf courses. The Clinton campaign pledged that she will continue to ramp up efforts to engage the Latino community as the campaign moved forward.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.