Despite some hints from Donald Trump before and after Nov. 8 that he would support criminal prosecution of Hillary Clinton if elected president, former Democratic presidential hopeful Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dismissed the possibility of such prosecution as "almost beyond comprehension."

Sanders, who waged a strong campaign against Clinton for the Democratic nomination this year, made his view of such a prosecution known to Newsmax Wednesday morning at a press breakfast in Washington, D.C. hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

"He said a whole lot of things," Sanders said of Trump's talk of prosecuting the former secretary of State, "Was he serious or were these just campaign slogans out there to gain some votes?"

The self-styled socialist told us, "It would be almost beyond comprehension to think that a new president would be involved in the prosecution of his opponent who ended up getting some 2 million more votes than he did."

According to Sanders, "We read about these things and we see these things in non-Democratic countries all over the world. Every year, you all report how in some country around the world, somebody wins an election around the world and his opponent ends up in jail or is prosecuted.

"This is the USA. We do not prosecute our political opponents and try to throw them in jail. That would completely, I think, divide this country. It would be an outrage. And I would hope very, very, very much Mr. Trump understands that that is not something he should do."

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.