Bernie Sanders blasts Trump’s campaign of ‘bigotry’ and ‘ugliness’

Sen. Bernard Sanders on Wednesday urged voters to reject Republican Donald Trump’s campaign of “bigotry” and “ugliness,” saying Americans who may be skeptical of Hillary Clinton still must vote for her in order to fight racism, sexism and homophobia.

At a rally in Iowa, the Vermont senator and runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination said Mr. Trump’s campaign embodies ugly, outdated ideas from the past.

“I would have hoped that in the year 2016, after all of the suffering and all of the struggles that have taken place in this country for hundreds of years regarding racism and discrimination, I would have hoped that issue would have been behind us. I would have hoped that in the year 2016, a candidate of a major political party does not make the cornerstone of his campaign bigotry,” Mr. Sanders said. “The days of racism, the days of sexism, the days of homophobia, I want to see those days behind us. I don’t want to see a president elected who will continue that kind of ugliness.”

Still a widely appealing figure to progressives and younger voters, Mr. Sanders increasingly is playing a larger role on the campaign trail as a key Clinton surrogate. He’ll hold two more rallies in Wisconsin later Wednesday.

But his message isn’t as much a ringing endorsement of Mrs. Clinton as it is an indictment of Mr. Trump. In fact, Mr. Sanders on Wednesday went so far as to tell voters to think only about themselves, not the two respective candidates.

“Look at the issues that impact you. Don’t worry about Trump, don’t worry about Clinton. Worry about yourself,” he said. “Worry about your families. And if you look at the candidates issue by issue, you will find Secretary Clinton has a progressive agenda which will improve life for the middle class.”