U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders won’t weigh in on Colorado’s hotly contested Democratic Senate primary, he told The Denver Post in an interview Friday — declining to endorse former presidential rival John Hickenlooper, who is now running for a U.S. Senate seat.

“I will do whatever I can to make sure that a Democrat beats Senator Gardner,” Sanders said, referring to Colorado’s junior senator, who’s up for re-election next fall. But “I’m going to sit out the primary and let the candidates explain their views to Colorado and hope the best candidate wins. That’s a decision for the people of Colorado, not me.”

Sanders spoke to The Post in advance of his first campaign stop in Colorado of the Democratic presidential primary season. Sanders will speak Monday evening at Civic Center Park.

Sanders won Colorado’s 2016 caucus and has a slim lead among the state’s Democrats, according to an early public poll. Colorado is expected to be a hotbed during the 2020 Democratic primary. Voters here will cast their vote March 3, also known as Super Tuesday. Other candidates who have made stops in Colorado so far include Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris.

Despite his popularity in Colorado, Sanders has been the subject of attacks from both Hickenlooper and another Colorado politician who’s still running for president, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.

Both Hickenlooper and Bennet, known as moderate Democrats, have warned that Sanders’ plans — especially his plan to expand Medicare to everyone — are too massive and expensive for the American people to accept.

Sanders disagreed Friday.

“The American people understand increasingly that the function of a health care system is to provide quality care to all — not to make $100 billion in profit,” he said.

Polling on the policy question is mixed. Generally, there is broad support for the government to take a larger role in controlling the costs of health care among all Americans. And the term “Medicare for All,” as Sanders’ plan is known, is extremely popular with Democrats. However, when asked whether there should be a prohibition on private insurance, something Sanders’ bill would do, support tends to drop.

While health care was the defining issue for Sanders in 2016 and continues to be the key debate among the presidential primary field, the Vermont senator is expected to discuss his vision of a New Green Deal to battle climate change while stumping in Colorado.

“In Colorado, I know there is great concern about climate change and the environment,” Sanders said.

His climate plan sets a goal of reaching 100 percent renewable energy for electricity and transportation by no later than 2030 and complete decarbonization by 2050. It also calls for $16.3 trillion in federal spending and a job guarantee for 20 million Americans.