Conservative commentator and author Ben Shapiro joined Donald Trump Jr. in warning Republicans not to underestimate 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and root for his nomination Monday.

“Note to Republicans: openly rooting for Sanders to win the nomination is ‘The Monkey’s Paw,'” warned Shapiro in a series of Twitter posts. “Watch one of his rallies. He has a ‘teach-in’ style that translates at rallies, and that we don’t see in debates. And the media will obscure his insane radicalism, of course.”

“See, e.g., Republicans urging on Obama in 2008, believing that his associations with Jeremiah Wright and far-left Senate voting history would doom him. Then the media got tingly-leg and decided to woodchip McCain,” he continued.

Note to Republicans: openly rooting for Sanders to win the nomination is “The Monkey’s Paw.” Watch one of his rallies. He has a “teach-in” style that translates at rallies, and that we don’t see in debates. And the media will obscure his insane radicalism, of course. — Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 3, 2020

See, e.g., Republicans urging on Obama in 2008, believing that his associations with Jeremiah Wright and far-left Senate voting history would doom him. Then the media got tingly-leg and decided to woodchip McCain. — Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 3, 2020

Shapiro’s warning echoed comments made by Trump Jr. on Fox & Friends, Monday.

“I kind of want to run against a communist in Bernie, but he’s also got a very motivated base. He’s got people showing up for his rallies,” Trump Jr. declared. “There’s a viral effect, sort of like what Trump had when they said we couldn’t win, so I don’t base things on that.”

Other Republicans and conservatives have expressed hope for a Sanders nomination, believing him to be an easy opponent, including the president himself.

During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump proclaimed, “Oh, would I love to run against Bernie. I would love… That would be a dream come true.”

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