Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Friday denied President Trump’s declaration that Democrat leaders are “rigging” the primary election against him.

“Let’s be clear about who is rigging what: it is Donald Trump’s action to use the power of the federal government for his own political benefit that is the cause of the impeachment trial,” Sanders said in a statement on Friday.

“His transparent attempts to divide Democrat will not work, and we are going to unite to sweep him out of the White House in November,” he added.

Sanders’ statement follows a pair of tweets from Trump, who proclaimed that Democrats are “rigging the election again against Bernie Sanders, just like last time, only even more obviously.”

“They are bringing him out of so important Iowa in order that, as a Senator, he sit through the Impeachment Hoax Trial,” Trump tweeted in part:

….Joe Biden, and Bernie is shut out again. Very unfair, but that’s the way the Democrats play the game. Anyway, it’s a lot of fun to watch! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2020

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also floated the assertion that Democrats leaders are attempting to hurt Sanders’ performance in Iowa with the timing of the Senate impeachment trial.

“The Iowa caucus is on February third,” McCarthy said during an appearance on Sunday Morning Futures. “Bernie Sanders is in first place and what this does is benefit Joe Biden.”

“This harms Sen. Sanders, who is in first place and could become their nominee because he will be stuck in a chair because Nancy Pelosi held the papers, different than what she said to the American public why she had to move so urgently,” he added.

CNN also faced heavy scrutiny and accusations of bias following Tuesday’s debate in Des Moines, Iowa, with critics proclaiming that the moderators favored Warren over Vermont’s socialist senator.