Progressive pundit and host of The Young Turks Cenk Uygur predicted in an interview with CNBC that establishment Democrats “are going to fight Bernie Sanders harder than any Republican will.”

The Independent Vermont senator running for president as a Democrat has not exactly enjoyed the support of his own party, according to media reports. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, a Democratic Party-affiliated think tank supportive of Hillary Clinton was recently accused of running a smear campaign against Sanders and other progressives.

The Vermont senator hit back, urging the think tank, Center for American Progress, and the media publications it controls to end the negative campaign and “bad-faith smears” against him, suggesting that they instead focus on playing a “constructive role” in the Democratic primary and help defeat President Donald Trump in 2020.

Tensions between the neoliberal, Clinton wing of the Democratic Party — its leadership — and progressive Democrats have been boiling for quite some time, however. According to a New York Times report published on April 16, party insiders are “agonizing” over Bernie Sanders’ momentum, and an unofficial “Stop Sanders” coalition has already formed.

The report details behind-closed-door meetings between donors, top Democrats, think tank heads, and other presidential candidates. Party insiders are, it seems, adamant to stop Sanders from winning the nomination.

According to progressive pundit Cenk Uygur, this comes as no surprise because “the big Dem donors are not worried he’s going to lose the general election, they’re worried he’s going to win.” The journalist said that powerful donors and mainstream Democrats are against Bernie Sanders because of his policies and because of his refusal to accept their donations.

“The people with the most money will lose all power, they will not be rewarded. All their power is in giving money to politicians and controlling them. Bernie Sanders doesn’t want their money.”

Uygur added that these attacks could, in fact, play to Bernie Sanders’ advantage, suggesting that the attacks launched by the Democratic Party establishment will likely galvanize his base of supporters and help the Vermont senator raise money for his presidential race.

“They can’t take away a small donor base. The more they attack him, the more he will raise,” he said.

There is an easy solution to ensure unity coming out of the convention. The DNC and party leadership should commit upfront to support whoever has the plurality lead in pledged delegates after the primaries as our nominee. Let the voters decide. https://t.co/WWnau2Mvul — Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) April 18, 2019

Other progressive journalists and activists CNBC interviewed expressed similar sentiments, suggesting that the Democratic Party establishment will fight tooth and nail to stop Bernie Sanders from winning the nomination.

Polls have consistently suggested that Bernie Sanders is the Democratic front-runner.

New national Emerson poll:



—Bernie Sanders: 29%

—Joe Biden: 24%

—Pete Buttigieg: 9%

—Beto O’Rourke: 8%

—Kamala Harris: 8%

—Elizabeth Warren: 7%

—Andrew Yang: 3%

—Julian Castro: 3% pic.twitter.com/EInbRDGCcV — Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) April 15, 2019

As USA Today reported, according to the first major national poll of the year, the Vermont senator is leading the pack of potential Democratic presidential candidates. Trailing him is Joe Biden, who is yet to officially launch his presidential campaign.