Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersMcConnell accuses Democrats of sowing division by 'downplaying progress' on election security The Hill's Campaign Report: Arizona shifts towards Biden | Biden prepares for drive-in town hall | New Biden ad targets Latino voters Why Democrats must confront extreme left wing incitement to violence MORE (I-Vt.) blasted Hilary Clinton on Friday, arguing his Democratic presidential primary rival’s policies generated Michigan’s ailing middle class.

“If the people of Michigan want to make a decision about which candidate stood with workers against corporate America and against these disastrous trade agreements, that candidate is Bernie Sanders,” he said during a rally in Traverse City, according to a campaign statement obtained by NBC News.

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Sanders argued that Clinton’s support of legislation like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had helped create the Great Lakes State’s crippling poverty.

“[NAFTA] is one of the reasons that the middle class in this country is disappearing,” the self-described Democratic socialist said.

“[NAFTA and other trade deals are] crafted by the big-money interests and corporations. Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonHillicon Valley: FBI chief says Russia is trying to interfere in election to undermine Biden | Treasury Dept. sanctions Iranian government-backed hackers The Hill's Campaign Report: Arizona shifts towards Biden | Biden prepares for drive-in town hall | New Biden ad targets Latino voters FBI chief says Russia is trying to interfere in election to undermine Biden MORE was on the wrong side of many of these trade agreements.”

Sanders has been escalating his attacks against Clinton’s trade stances all week, arguing on Thursday that she has proven “very, very wrong” on the issue and caused economic misfortune.

The Vermont lawmaker is scrambling for traction with Michigan voters before its Democratic presidential primary next Tuesday. Clinton leads Sanders by nearly 18 points before ballots are cast there, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls.

He is fighting to keep his campaign viable after winning four of eleven states earlier this week on Super Tuesday. Clinton, in contrast, won seven, bringing her total of voting contest victories to 11 compared with Sanders’s five.