Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump. (Photos: Nancy Wiechec/Reuters; Chuck Burton/AP)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is exploiting a rocky day for the Democratic National Committee to reach out to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ supporters who feel their candidate didn’t get a fair shake in the primaries.

On Friday, just days before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 emails that suggest DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other party leaders preferred presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over Sanders — despite repeated claims of impartiality.

The following morning, Trump used the controversy as a way to extend an olive branch to Sanders’ supporters, who are far more liberal but generally agree that the political process is rigged to support establishment candidates.

Leaked e-mails of DNC show plans to destroy Bernie Sanders. Mock his heritage and much more. On-line from Wikileakes, really vicious. RIGGED — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2016





The DNC emails contain embarrassing exchanges in which DNC top brass mock Sanders’ campaign, think up anti-Sanders narratives, and apparently consider using Sanders’ religious beliefs to minimize his support. (Though raised Jewish, Sanders is not particularly interested in organized religion.)

For many of Sanders’ supporters, the emails confirmed what they had been saying all along: that the national party had treated Sanders unfairly and viewed his upstart campaign as a threat from the beginning. On Saturday morning, #DNCleak was trending on social media with more than 300,000 tweets.

#DNCLeak shows:

✔️Collusion between DNC & media

✔️Plotting to smear Sanders

✔️Questionable fundraising for HRC & DNChttps://t.co/lwmp64KwuS — Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) July 22, 2016





Story continues

Re: #DNCleak My dad and I never agree on politics, but one thing I took from him is never to put your blind faith in a party or a candidate. — Mara Wilson (@MaraWritesStuff) July 23, 2016





"Superdelegates exist so that party leaders don't have to run against grassroots activists." @DWStweets #DNCleakpic.twitter.com/3MAdKWq7ec — Jeanette Verdista (@JeanetteJing) July 23, 2016





I'm conservative, not socialist, but c'mon. What DNC did to @BernieSanders is disgraceful. Election integrity matters. #DNCLeaks #dncleak — Carol Platt Liebau (@CPLiebau) July 23, 2016





Trump made a similar appeal to stalwart Sanders fans on Thursday while accepting the GOP’s presidential nomination at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

“I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders — he never had a chance,” he said. “But his supporters will join our movement, because we will fix his biggest issue: trade.”

Trump also cited Sanders’ past criticism of Clinton’s judgment while arguing that the world is less safe after her stint as secretary of state under President Obama.

“Her bad instincts and her bad judgment — something pointed out by Bernie Sanders — are what caused the disasters unfolding today,” he said.

And the WikiLeaks revelation was not the only news to disturb the already uneasy peace between Sanders’ fans and the DNC ahead of next week’s convention.

Clinton announced that she had chosen Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a relatively centrist Democrat, for her running mate in a text message to supporters Friday night.

“I’m thrilled to tell you this first: I’ve chosen Sen. Tim Kaine as my running mate. Welcome him to our team,” she wrote.

Kaine is from a swing state and has a wealth of foreign policy experience, but he definitely does not come from the leftist, Sanders’ wing of the Democratic Party. Kaine supported trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, fiercely criticized by Sanders, and the Virginia senator has expressed a personal opposition to abortion.

Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore was among those who bemoaned the Kaine pick. He said Trump picked Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to fire up the conservative base whereas Clinton’s pick played it safe.

Tim Kaine. Sigh. Trying to win votes from a middle that's no longer there. Shows old political thinking. Trump picked VP to excite the base — Michael Moore (@MMFlint) July 23, 2016





Show me 1 voter gained by naming Tim Kaine. Att'n Hillary campaign: It's not Trump who'll beat u. It's the people who are going to stay home — Michael Moore (@MMFlint) July 23, 2016





Tim Kaine. Sigh…the more things change… — Lucy Flores (@LucyFlores) July 23, 2016





And, just as he did with the DNC email leak, Trump pounced on the Kaine choice as a way to reach out to disaffected Sanders voters.

The Bernie Sanders supporters are furious with the choice of Tim Kaine, who represents the opposite of what Bernie stands for. Philly fight? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2016





Tim Kaine is, and always has been, owned by the banks. Bernie supporters are outraged, was their last choice. Bernie fought for nothing! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2016



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