A growing chorus of Bernie Sanders supporters believe the Democratic establishment prefers another Trump term to a Sanders presidency.

They claim the botched Iowa caucus may be proof of this “conspiracy.”

They argue the DNC preferred losing to Trump in 2016 than nominating Bernie.

The Democrats love Donald Trump. Well, they might not love him, but the party elites would rather endure another four years of him than a Bernie Sanders presidency.

This, at least, is what a growing number of Sanders supporters and left-leaning commentators are claiming in the wake of the Iowa caucus meltdown.

And given the recent shenanigans in Democrat-land, their accusations look more believable by the day.

Democrats Prefer Trump to ‘Mild Socialism’

One of the most prominent Bernie Sanders supporters to suggest that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) establishment secretly wants Trump to win is anthropologist and author David Graeber.

Based at the London School of Economics, Graeber has written a number of best-selling books (including “Bullshit Jobs” and “Debt: The First 5,000 Years”) and regularly tweets about politics.

He weighed in on the state of the 2020 election race today:

Despite labeling this claim his “conspiracy theory of the day” in his tweet, Graeber explains that he genuinely believes that Democratic party elites are doing whatever they can to undermine Sanders’ candidacy. Even if that means handing Trump the 2020 election.

And he isn’t alone.

Here’s Paul Silker – a podcast host and director at Finn Partners – replying to Graeber’s thread:

Popular left-wing blogger Michael Krieger agreed. He pointed out that many rich Democrats will lose out if Sanders gets in, but continue winning with a Trump presidency:

Graeber isn’t the only Bernie supporter to allege that the DNC may secretly be conspiring to get Trump reelected. Especially after the Democrats botched the count in the Iowa caucus, which most pundits believed would deliver Sanders a serious momentum boost

Here’s Matt Bruenig, the founder of the People’s Policy Project, a progressive think-tank:

And at the other end of the political spectrum, Washington Times columnist Tim Young has been one of many commentators (mostly on the right) arguing that the Democrats intentionally bungled the Iowa caucus because they were scared Sanders would win it.

They’d Rather Lose to Trump Than Win With Bernie

Even before the Iowa caucus disaster, commentators had already argued that the Democrats prefer Donald Trump to genuine progressive candidates.

Michael Hudson, a professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, torched the DNC as a tool that party elites use to block left-wing candidates from ever having a real shot at the White House.

Writing after the Democratic debate in September, he said:

Voters basically want what Bernie Sanders is promising: a basic right to Single Payer health care and a retirement income…The DNC easily solved this problem in 2016. It scheduled the party’s early defining primaries in Republican states whose voters leaned right, and packed the nominating convention with Donor Class super-delegates.

Hudson concludes that the DNC preferred to lose in 2016 with Hillary Clinton than win with Bernie. He suspects that’s playing out again four years later as elites scheme to prop up Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg.

But it’s possible the Democrats just want to lose – period.

More than just massacring the Iowa caucus, reports about the shady financing behind the bug-ridden vote-counting app have triggered suspicions about the vote’s legitimacy.

The Democrats have been actively playing into Trump’s electoral hand in other ways too. Support for impeachment is waning, while Trump’s approval rating has increased to a “personal best” of 49% nine months before the general election.

And if Bernie Sanders’ supporters are right about the DNC, Trump’s approval rating will only rise further as the party’s backroom elite manipulate the primary from the shadows.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.