MSNBC host Chris Matthews wondered if the Democratic Party would be better off if President Trump wins reelection rather than if Sen. Bernie Sanders takes over the White House.

Matthews, 74, brought up the possibility that centrist Democrats may prefer Trump over the socialist Sanders during the network's Saturday afternoon coverage of the Nevada caucuses. The host of Hardball with Chris Matthews was leading a conversation about how centrist candidates were splitting the vote, likely a detriment to one another but a benefit for Sanders.

"I’m wondering whether the Democratic moderates want Bernie Sanders to be president," he said. "That’s maybe too exciting a question to raise. They don’t like Trump at all. Do they want Bernie Sanders to take over the Democratic Party in perpetuity? I mean, he takes it over, he sets the direction of the future of the party — maybe they’d rather wait four years and put in a Democrat that they like."

"I mean, that’s the big question, right?" Adrienne Elrod, a former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton, responded. "And you know, the narrative that you’re starting to see play out, Chris, is that there are people that are concerned, strategists that are concerned that Bernie Sanders being at the top of the ticket will force us to lose the House. I don’t necessarily think that’s the case."

Matthews has frequently disparaged the Vermont senator in recent days, accusing Sanders of being "full of it" and arguing that he'd be a "miserable president" if he got elected. He has also predicted that Sanders would lose 49 states if he went up against Trump in the general election.

The network host also warned his viewers about candidates who support socialism.

"You know, I have my own views of the word 'socialist,'" Matthews said earlier this month. "They go back to the early 1950s. I have an attitude about them. I remember the Cold War. I have an attitude towards Castro. I believe if Castro and the Reds had won the Cold War, there would have been executions in Central Park, and I might have been one of the ones getting executed, and certain other people would be there cheering, OK? So, I have a problem with people who took the other side."

Sanders reportedly berated MSNBC executives earlier this week for what he perceived to be unfair treatment from the network.