"Bernie Sanders has been treated terribly by the Democrats — both with delegates & otherwise," Donald Trump tweeted. "He should show them, and run as an Independent!" | The Wilkes Barre Times-Leader via AP Trump: Sanders should run as independent

Suggesting that Bernie Sanders has been treated unfairly by the Democratic Party, Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the Vermont senator should abandon his run for the Democratic nomination and instead seek an independent path to the White House.

"Bernie Sanders has been treated terribly by the Democrats — both with delegates & otherwise," Trump tweeted. "He should show them, and run as an Independent!"


Sanders and his campaign have indicated that the senator, who was still listed as an independent on his Senate website as early as this month, will continue to be a Democrat in future elections.

For his part, Sanders suggested in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" aired Sunday that while the process had been a fair one, he had not received fair treatment from the Democratic Party.

"So it sounds like the party, though, you feel like's been fair to you?" Chuck Todd asked Sanders, who appeared to greet the perceived slights with a shrug.

"No. I think we have— look, we're taking on the establishment. That's pretty clear," the senator responded. "The fact that we had debates that were scheduled — pretty clearly, to my mind, at a time when there would be minimal viewing audience, et cetera, et cetera. But you know, that's the way it is. We knew we were taking on the establishment. And here we are. So not complaining."