As Donald Trump moves closer to clinching the Republican presidential nomination, he has offered lavish praise for Bernie Sanders, who faces increasingly slim chances in his battle with Hillary Clinto
As Donald Trump moves closer to clinching the Republican presidential nomination, he has offered lavish praise for Bernie Sanders, who faces increasingly slim chances in his battle with Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race.
Mr Trump has begun calling for Mr Sanders to run as an independent if he does not win the Democratic nomination and said he may borrow talking points from Mr Sanders’ speeches criticising Ms Clinton to use in a possible matchup with the former secretary of state in the November 8 general election.
“He said some things about her that were so incredible and so incredibly bad,” Mr Trump said after sweeping five Northeastern primaries, adding Mr Sanders had “been telling the truth.”
Yet data and interviews with Mr Sanders supporters suggest that winning over large numbers of them may be difficult for the New York billionaire businessman.
Even though Mr Trump and Mr Sanders, a US Senator from Vermont, emphasise some common themes such as criticism of Wall Street and international trade agreements, there is only limited crossover appeal between the two candidates, according to Reuters/Ipsos data.
Among voters who back Mr Trump, just 12 per cent said MR Sanders would be their second choice if Mr Trump were not in the race, only slightly higher than the 7 per cent who said Mr Clinton would be their next pick.
Sanders supporters were even less willing than Trump backers to consider crossing over. Just 8 per cent of Mr Sanders’ supporters said they would vote for Mr Trump as their second choice, roughly the same as the portion of voters who listed Mr Trump’s Republican rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich as their second choice.
Mr Sanders’ supporter Joseph Hayes of Oregon, still has hope for his candidate. But if it comes down to Mr Trump or Mr Clinton, Hayes said it was an easy, if unpleasant, choice. “I would have to vote for Hillary. Reluctantly so, but I would,” he said.
People who outwardly back both Mr Sanders and Mr Trump are even more of a rarity.
