Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci isn’t shy about his feelings towards President Donald Trump following his 10-day tenure in the White House.
Scaramucci previously made it clear that he doesn’t think Trump will get re-elected president, asserting that Democratic candidates Michael Bloomberg and former Vice President Joe Biden have a chance to beat him.
Recent polls and early Democratic primaries, though, indicated that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is becoming the clear frontrunner. And despite the fact that Sanders is a self-proclaimed socialist, Scaramucci said that “he absolutely can win.”
“If you think Bernie Sanders can’t win, you’re not paying close enough attention to the Bernie Sanders movement, the same way people weren’t paying close enough attention to the Donald Trump movement in 2016,” Scaramucci said on Yahoo Finance’s On the Move (video above.
A recent poll from Morning Consult backs up Scaramucci’s claim that Sanders could beat Trump: 32% of Democratic voters stated he’s the best candidate to go up against the current commander-in-chief, with Bloomberg second at 19% and Biden third at 18%.
According to Real Clear Politics, Sanders would beat Trump by approximately 2.4 points if the election were held today.
Sanders’ momentum
Sanders took 46.8% in the most recent Democratic primary in Nevada, which was more than double the next closest contender, Joe Biden. At the Iowa Caucus, Sanders virtually tied with former Mayor Pete Buttigieg (the Associated Press has still not declared a winner). And at the New Hampshire primary, Sanders topped Buttigieg.
Overall, Sanders holds a commanding lead over his fellow Democratic candidates heading into Super Tuesday on March 3.
Scaramucci described Sanders’ increasing popularity as a “virus in the market,” while others have been critical of the Sanders movement. Former Biden advisor and current Chief Transparency Officer at TransparentBusiness, Moe Vela, previously told Yahoo Finance that “socialism has no chance of beating Trump in 2020.”
A November 2019 Gallup poll found that 39% of Americans have a positive view of socialism, a 3% increase from 2010.
The positive views of socialism are “simply because I think people hear it and it sounds so good,” Vela said. “I like free things too. I go to sales at department stores all the time because I’m attracted to a sale. However, the reality in policy, in the United States and in governance, is somebody has to pay for that.”
President Trump, who has equated Democrats with a surge of socialism in America, would likely focus on the socialism angle in a general election against Sanders.
Adriana is an associate editor for Yahoo Finance. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @adrianambells.
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