ROLLINSFORD – Sen. Bernie Sanders took aim at President Donald Trump on Memorial Day, criticizing the Republican president over the rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran that many fear could end in a military confrontation.

During a speech in Rollinsford, the Democratic presidential candidate’s third stop during a two-day swing through the first-in-the-nation primary state, Sanders highlighted that during his decades in Congress, ”the most important vote that I have ever cast and the most important fight that I have ever waged was in opposition to the war in Iraq.”

The independent senator from Vermont, who’s making his second straight bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, warned, “I believe that a war with Iran would make the war in Iraq look like a cakewalk. It would be a never ending war that would go on and on and on. Massive destabilization, massive loss of life.”

And Sanders highlighted that he’s working with a bipartisan group to “make sure that Trump does not go to war in Iran.”

The Trump administration has been ringing alarms the past month over what it calls “troubling” and “escalatory” moves by Iran. The U.S. has been raising the volume on the Islamic Republic ever since the president took the country out of a multilateral nuclear deal a year ago.

On Friday, the president told reporters before departing on a trip to Japan that “we’re going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective” as he announced that 1,500 additional troops were headed to the Middle East.

On Monday, during a news conference with the Japanese prime minister, Trump spotlighted diplomacy, saying, “I really believe that Iran would like to make a deal, and I think that’s very smart of them, and I think that’s a possibility to happen.”

Sanders’s campaign told SeacoastOnline that approximately 350 people attended the event – billed an ice cream social – at the Rollinsford home of Ken and Salme Perry.

Both Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream were on hand, dishing out ice cream to the crowd prior to the event. And both spoke to the crowd ahead of Sanders. Cohen, who was a top supporter and surrogate for Sanders’ 2016 White House bid and is a co-chair of the 2020 campaign, introduced the candidate to the audience.

“Before Bernie, Jerry and I used the be the most famous guys in Vermont,” Cohen joked.

An optimistic Sanders predicted that he has an “excellent chance” to win both Iowa (the first state to vote in the primary and caucus calendar) and the Granite State.

“If we win in Iowa and if we win in New Hampshire – we have a good chance to win South Carolina (the first southern state to vote in the primaries) – I think we can win Nevada (the first western state to vote) – and we’re very strong in California (the largest state to vote on Super Tuesday). If we can do well in all of those states, we have a direct path to victory,” he emphasized.

Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton by more than 20 percentage points in New Hampshire’s 2016 Democratic presidential primary. The victory sent the one-time longshot candidate into a marathon battle with Clinton, the eventual nominee. Because of that victory, and the continuing strong organization in the state of his supporters, New Hampshire’s considered a must win for Sanders.

Sanders is currently second in most polling in the 2020 Democratic primary in New Hampshire. He trails former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s the clear front-runner right now.

Stephanie George of Dover – who supported Sanders in his 2016 White House bid, was in the crowd.

“I’m still undecided but I would love to be able to vote for Bernie again,” she said.

But she admitted that she’s also thinking about the other progressive rock star in the race – Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

“For me, it really comes down to who’s going to support Medicare for All and I’ve really liked Bernie’s stance on it and he’s been a big supporter before Medicare for All become a little popular,” George explained. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m so excited about him this time around.”

Adrienne Burley of Durham said she came because “I wanted to hear what he has to say.”

With more than eight months to go until the primary, Burley’s still very much undecided. “We’ve got a long way to go,” she noted.

Burley said Sanders is in her top four right now, along with Biden, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

“I just don’t want to see Trump ever there again,” she pleaded.

Jen Steer of Portsmouth noted that “I applaud Bernie for his honesty and his enthusiasm to do the right thing. I’m still waiting to see where I’m going to cast my vote. It’s too early. I admire Bernie in a lot of ways. I get energized from listening to him.”

She said she’s also looking at Buttigieg, Yang and Sen. Kamala Harris of California.

Steve Borne of Rye admitted that he’s more moderate than most of the people attending the Sanders event. He explained that he and his 15-year-old son are “trying to see everybody” in the historically large field of nearly two-dozen Democratic presidential contenders.

Noting that Sanders may be a bit too progressive for his liking, Borne said, “I’m giving this guy a shot but I’m not holding my breath.”

Delaney stops in Portsmouth

A few hours before Sanders arrived in Rollinsford, Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney made his pitch to approximately 70 people attending a Memorial Day barbecue at the Portsmouth home of Wes Tator, an environmental activist.

The event was the last in a jam-packed two-day swing through New Hampshire by Delaney, a former three-term congressman from Maryland and successful businessman who was once the youngest CEO on Wall Street.

The trip to New Hampshire was Delaney’s 19th since launching his campaign in July of 2017, just six month’s into Trump’s presidency.