Trump says Bernie Sanders has 'already won' debate in Democrat primary

The president is also doubling down his attacks on 'socialist', or progressive, economic policy

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has responded to Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential bid announcement, with a swift attack on the Vermont Independent’s “brand of socialism.”

Kayleigh McEnany, the national press secretary for Mr Trump’s campaign, released a statement on Tuesday morning claiming that Mr Sanders has “already won the debate in the Democratic primary.”

“Bernie Sanders has already won the debate in the Democrat primary, because every candidate is embracing his brand of socialism,” the statement read. “But the American people will reject an agenda of sky-high tax rates, government-run health care and coddling dictators like those in Venezuela. Only President Trump will keep America free, prosperous and safe.”

The statement is the most recent attempt to brand Democrats as socialists.

During his State of the Union address in early February, the president warned against the rise of “socialism” in the United States. “Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” Mr Trump said. “Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”

He lambasted Democrats for being “socialists” for steering progressive policies including single-payer healthcare, a guaranteed jobs program and debt-free college tuition.

But despite his vilification of these progressive policies, they actually poll favorably with the American public.

This could bode well for Mr Sanders, who unsuccessfully ran on a democratic socialist platform in the 2016 presidential primary against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

However, Democracy for America (DFA), a progressive group that endorsed Mr Sanders in 2016, believe that the 77-year-old senator will have to put in more work to set himself apart from other candidates in the race.

“Blessed with a diverse field of candidates committed to inclusive populist reforms, we’re looking forward to seeing how Sanders and the movement behind him makes the case for ‘political revolution’ in a very different 2020 contest,” Yvette Simpson, executive director of DFA, told the Guardian.

Mr Sanders will be joining a long list of diverse candidates throwing their hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election including California Senator Kamala Harris, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

“To win in 2020, Democrats need a leader committed to a visionary, progressive agenda who can win the enthusiastic support of the New American Majority of people of color and progressive white voters,” Ms Simpson added.

Mr Sanders laid out his visions for his campaign in his campaign announcement video on Tuesday morning, many of which are built on similar themes that were the bastion of his 2016 insurgent campaign.

The democratic socialist said his campaign is more than just defeating the “most dangerous president in modern American history.”

“Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice,” Mr Sanders said in the video announcement.

The senator called out special interest groups in the video.

“Our campaign is about taking on the special interests that dominate our economic and political life,” he added. “I’m talking about Wall Street, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry, the military industrial complex, the private prison industry, and the large multinational corporations that exert such an enormous influence over our lives.”