Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) continued his criticism of the Democratic Party on Thursday, saying it has spent too much time "turning its back on rural America" and done an insufficient job of standing up for the country's working class.

During an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Sanders was asked by co-host Mika Brzezinski why President Donald Trump's blue-collar base was sticking with him.

"He has his base, but I think that base is shrinking the more people learn about his policies," he said. "He ran an effective campaign and he said, you know, I'm going to take on the establishment, and I'm going to stand up for the working class of this country that has so long been ignored, and in my view, the Democratic Party has not done a good job of standing up for the working class of this country."

"Why not? Where did the Democratic Party go wrong?" co-host Joe Scarborough asked.

"Well, for the last many, many years, the Democratic Party has been spending too much time raising money from its wealthy friends, turning its back on rural America, turning its back on the working class, talking about deregulating Wall Street, not paying attention to the needs of people whose standard of living has been in decline," Sanders said.

Sanders, despite caucusing with the Democrats, is not a Democrat and has routinely criticized the party from the left over such issues. He has shredded them for blowing the presidential election in 2016 and for being on the side of Wall Street, fossil fuels, and the pharmaceutical industry.