MESQUITE — Bernie Sanders on Friday said he will win Texas on the strength of a multigenerational movement, and then oust President Donald Trump from the White House.

“We’re going to win the state of Texas," Sanders told several thousand supporters in Mesquite. “We’re going to beat Trump. We’re going to transform this country.”

Sanders said Trump had steered the nation off course and continued to be a flawed president.

“We cannot have a president who continues to be a pathological liar,” Sanders said.

More than 4,000 people gathered at the Mesquite rodeo arena to hear Sanders, who is riding high after strong finishes in the early contest states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

The Texas presidential primary is March 3, and a win here could cement Sanders as the Democratic Party’s front-runner for the nomination against Trump.

Fans -- including SMU law student Averie Bishop, right, who is Miss Dallas 2020 -- cheer as Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., holds a Valentine's Day rally at the Mesquite Arena on Feb. 14, 2020 in Mesquite, Texas. (Juan Figueroa / Staff photographer)

Sanders sought to assure voters that his progressive policies were nothing to fear. Rivals have warned that the nomination a self-described Democratic socialist against Trump would lead to certain defeat. He said that was a sign that his campaign is resonating.

“The establishment is getting very nervous,” Sanders said. He said that his campaign is not just about beating Trump, but taking on the Democratic Party establishment and the greed of powerful corporations — what he called the "billionaire class.”

But Sanders said that his proposals, including Medicare for All and abolishing private health insurance, are preferred by most American voters.

“What I want to do is protect the interests of working people,” Sanders told KXAS-TV (Channel 5) before the rally. “The agenda we have speaks to the needs of the working people.”

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., holds a Valentine's Day rally at the Mesquite Arena on Feb. 14, 2020 in Mesquite, Texas. (Juan Figueroa / Staff photographer)

At the rally, Sanders said, “this country belongs to all of us, not just the one percent.”

Sanders was introduced by civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt. The Vermont senator pledged to support criminal justice reform, calling for “investment in jobs and education, not incarceration.”

He also said there is "too much violence in America. We need strong gun-safety legislation.”

Polls show Sanders competing with former Vice President Joe Biden for the lion’s share of the 261 delegates allotted for Texas. In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton beat Sanders in the Texas primary.

Sanders still has organization and support in the Lone Star State, which he said he hopes will give him an edge on Super Tuesday.

His supporters said Friday that it was time for Democrats to rally around the Vermont senator.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., greets supporters during a Valentine's Day rally at the Mesquite Arena on Feb. 14, 2020 in Mesquite, Texas. (Juan Figueroa / Staff photographer)

Texans at the Friday’s rally said they liked Sanders’ willingness to challenge the system and that his outsider approach was needed to revamp the party and beat Trump.

“I just want something different,” said Martin Guel, a construction worker from Mesquite. “He not the same stale politician you see all the time.”

Michael Giddens, a Fort Worth resident who works for a major airline, said he supporter Sanders’ Medicare for All proposal. He said concerns about the impact of losing private insurance was “propaganda.”

“Under his plan, all Americans will have quality, affordable insurance,” he said.

Kember Hanson, who works at a bookstore, said Sanders can beat Trump, despite the concerns of some Democrats who worry that his views are too extreme.

“Most people in America want change, and Bernie Sanders is the candidate that will give them that change,” she said.

Michelle Smith of Crandall waved a Bernie flag as she waited for the program to start.

“He can win Texas,” she said. “He can beat Trump.”

Sanders said all Americans should be involved in the November election.

“What we have got to do is change the political culture of this country,” Sanders said.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., holds a Valentine's Day rally at the Mesquite Arena on Feb. 14, 2020 in Mesquite, Texas. (Juan Figueroa / Staff photographer)