Trump is trying to pick his general election opponent while dividing the Democratic Party by defending Sen. Sanders on Russian election interference.

Trump tweeted:

Trump is trying to split Democrats because he knows that he can’t beat a united party. In this respect, he and Sen. Sanders share a goal. The Sanders strategy is to try to win the Democratic nomination in a split party with only his base of support.

Anytime Trump is defending Sanders, it is bad for Bernie Sanders.

The Sanders campaign caused this mess for themselves by not saying anything for a month

when they knew that Russia was interfering to help their campaign.

The idea that Sanders couldn’t say anything because the briefing was classified is nonsense. Presidential candidates don’t get classified briefings until they are the nominee. Sanders would have been briefed on the interference as a candidate, not a senator.

If the briefing were classified, it still would have been classified after the media reported it. Media reports don’t declassify information. Sanders or his campaign have never said that the briefing was classified. Even if the briefing classified, it wouldn’t prevent Sanders from talking.

The American people have heard elected officials like Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff say that they can’t discuss the details of a briefing, but they can generally characterize it.

The Sanders campaign could have taken the lead on this and spoken out. Instead, they chose to stay silent, and now they are stuck with Trump defending them, which is the last thing in the world that Bernie Sanders wants.

Trump is trying to pick his general election opponent, and Russia is helping him.

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