One of the most indelible tropes of political campaigning is that candidates love interacting with babies, but Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders was not feeling the love when he was interrupted by a shrieking tot at a recent event.

The famously cantankerous senator from Vermont was addressing a group of potential voters in Epson, New Hampshire, on Tuesday when a baby present in the room began wailing.

A brief video recorded by an eyewitness at the Circle 9 Ranch Campground Bingo Hall captured what happened next: Sanders was in the middle of talking to a audience member about health care when he turned in the direction of the noise, pointed his finger and said: 'If we could keep that down a little bit. OK, thanks.'

Bernie Sanders was at a campaign stop in Epsom, New Hampshire, Tuesday morning when he had a run-in with a cranky child in the audience

Sanders, 77, was talking to a voter about health care when a tot began wailing. The often cantankerous candidate pointed and said: 'If we could keep that down a little bit. OK, thanks'

The mother and baby have not been identified, but this image shows a woman in yellow holding a young child dressed in a red T-shirt standing to the right of Sanders

The 77-year-old politician then turned back to face the crowd, as if to resume his interaction with the voter, but appeared to have lost his train of thought for a few seconds in the wake of the infant's outburst.

As the news site Splinter first reported, the video from the campaign stop was uploaded to Twitter by Zach Parkinson, research director for President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.

'Sanders not feeling the Bern for kids in the audience yesterday...' he said in a tweet accompanying the video.

Sanders is no stranger to being around youngsters: he has four grown children and seven grandchildren of his own.

The White House hopeful met with potential voters at the Circle 9 Ranch Campground Bingo Hall in Epson, New Hampshire on Tuesday

Sanders shakes hands with potential supporters as he talks with a member of his team

The left-wing candidate for the White House has repeatedly invoked his brood in campaign speeches and social media posts, most recently on Tuesday, when he tweeted about climate change: 'I've got seven beautiful grandchildren. I will be damned if I leave them a world which is not habitable.'

Sanders is not the first politician to have been irked by a squealing tot.

In August 2016, then-Republican frontrunner Donald Trump infamously ordered a mother and her crying infant to leave his rally in Virginia, saying in the middle of his stomp speech: 'you can get the baby out of here.'

Moments later, Trump pivoted and declared that he loves babies.

According to a Marquette University Law School poll released on Wednesday, Sanders is currently trailing the Democratic front-runner, former Vice President Joe Biden, with 20 per cent of registered Democrats and independents.