Conservative pundit Herman Cain argued Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is advocating for a version of socialism that does not exist.

"Bernie Sanders would have you believe that he is not like the socialists who have ruined Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and — going back a few years — all of Eastern Europe," Cain wrote in an opinion article in the Western Journal. "Oh sure, he agrees with many of their economic ideas, but don’t worry. He’s a democratic socialist, and that’s different."

Cain then said, "Democratic socialism doesn’t exist. That’s because it can’t exist, because socialism can’t take hold in a truly democratic system."

"In order for socialism to 'work,' the state has to take control of major industries like health care, energy and manufacturing," he wrote. "It has to confiscate massive amounts of private wealth. It has to control the means of production and distribution. It has to control wages and prices. It has to monopolize things like higher education."

Sanders, who is widely viewed as the front-runner in the 2020 Democratic primary for president after key wins in Nevada and New Hampshire, describes himself as a "democratic socialist."

“And let me be absolutely clear: Democratic socialism to me requires achieving political and economic freedom in every community,” the senator said last year.

He has accused President Trump and other critics of fear-mongering in regards to his socialist views on healthcare, climate change, and the economy.

Cain, a businessman who unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, is a member of the Tea Party movement and a proponent of free markets and small government.

He said Sanders seeks total control of the government in such a way that socialist dictators have done in countries around the world for decades.

"This is the sort of thing socialists do all the time to make sure they don’t lose power, no matter what happens in elections, assuming elections are even allowed to happen," Cain said. "They will burrow into the bureaucracy. They will find friendly judges to overrule duly elected officials or the people."