Bernie Sanders, the 2020 Democratic primary's fundraising powerhouse, is helping to bring in money for an organization he's railed against: the Democratic National Committee.

The Vermont senator, who dropped out of White House contention last week, wielded his email list, the envy of most political operations, to boost the DNC Friday.

"My campaign for president may be over, but our struggle continues," he wrote to his grassroots supporters, estimated to be in the millions.

"That struggle begins with defeating Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history, but it does not end there," Sanders said. "I will also be doing everything in my power to elect strong progressives at every level of government. That is why I am about to ask you to join me by making a donation to the Democratic Unity Fund today."

Sanders and the DNC have had a fraught relationship since the 2016 primary, when he accused the party of rigging the contest in favor of establishment darling Hillary Clinton.

But he described the organization on Friday as "the only official party committee that works to elect Democrats at all levels of government across the country."

"That's important. Because change always happens from the bottom up, and when we mobilize record numbers of people to get involved in the political process, we can create a government that works for all of us and not just the one percent," he wrote.

The DNC told the Washington Examiner the email was not part of a fundraising agreement left over from the primary or a new one formed for the general election. The party simply asked Sanders to rally his donors for the fund, and he obliged, according to an official.

"Him and his team have been helpful and easy to work with," they said.

Sanders assisted in lining the DNC's fund as a member of the once historically crowded primary field, with the money eventually being funneled to the nominee. In exchange for access to the party's voter file, presidential candidates committed to sending emails and hosting two in-person fundraisers, where campaign finance rules allowed donors to give more than $300,000, important for an organization that is $6 million in debt.

Though he didn't rule out hauling in money for Joe Biden or the Democratic Party, Friday's email is at odds with comments he made this week suggesting his first priority was backing down-ballot, liberal candidates.

“Right now, what we are planning to do is to activate our lists to elect progressive members of the Congress and defend members of the state legislatures around the country and lower-ballot candidates, whether it’s school board or city council, who are running progressive campaigns,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “That’s where our focus is.”

Sanders, who raised roughly $180 million over the course of his yearlong White House campaign, had also stopped asking for money in the closing weeks of his bid because many of his fans were experiencing financial stress related to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Sanders's exit from the race cemented Biden as the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. This week, he endorsed his former rival, telling the Wall Street Journal he would gin up his base for the two-term vice president and 36-year Delaware senator via his livestreams and social media while the COVID-19 outbreak prevented them from holding large rallies, his preferred platform.

Sanders has previously had a fraught relationship with the DNC. He spent most of his nearly 30 years in Congress as an independent, and when he sought the 2016 Democratic nomination said the party organization effectively rigged the game against him in favor of eventual nominee Hillary Clinton.