Bernie Sanders 'playing' to 'radical' base with latest Trump, Iran comments: Sen. Kevin Cramer

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Bernie Sanders' Iran comments show he 'plays radical as well as anybody:' Sen. Cramer

Senator Kevin Cramer said 2020 presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was 'playing to' a 'radical' base after he made comments on possibility of war with Iran.

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is playing to his "radical" base with comments he made on the possibility of war with Iran, according to Senator Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

At a speech in New Hampshire on Monday, Sanders told a crowd of his supporters, “Right now if you can believe it, Trump and his people in his administration apparently have learned nothing from that horrific war in Iraq."

“If you think the war in Iraq was a disaster, my strong belief is a war with Iran would be much worse,” said Sanders. “Not only would a war with Iran be a disaster, it happens to be unconstitutional.”

Appearing on “America’s Newsroom” with hosts Bill Hemmer and Sandra Smith, Cramer said, “I think that, first of all, neither President Trump nor anyone around him have talked about war with Iran. They’re not talking about war. They’re not threatening war. In fact, he’s using the very well-known policy of peace-by-strength that’s allowed us to get back to this calmer demeanor.”

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“So, I don’t know what Bernie Sanders is talking about other than he’s talking to a very different audience than President Trump is,” he said.

“He’s trying to become the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, Cramer said. “He’s playing to a base that is radical to say the least. He plays radical as well as anybody—probably better than anybody.”

At a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday, Trump appeared to tone down his rhetoric on Iran. He said that the U.S. is not seeking a regime change—this coming just a week after he threatened the “official end of Iran” if escalating tensions lead to a confrontation between the two countries.

Cramer said the president’s strategy was beneficial for the relationship between the countries: “He’s been great at applying the pressure. Then bringing adversaries to the table…hopefully, making some progress. At the very least he provides an avenue and an opportunity for our adversaries to, if not become our friends, to become serious about conversations.”

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President Trump said earlier that he supported Abe’s interest in leveraging Japan’s good standing with Iran to help broker a possible dialogue. According to The Washington Post, the president said he believed Iran “would like to talk.”

Abe said he is willing to do whatever he could to help lessen tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

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All of this coming after the Trump administration hurled accusations of an imminent attack and abruptly deployed Navy warships to the Middle East. On Friday, the president told reporters that the 1,500 troops sent would have a  “mostly protective” role. The administration is calling recent moves by Iran “troubling” and “escalatory.”

“The president is back to calming the waters,” Cramer said. “And, you know, Donald Trump sometimes plays good cop. Sometimes he plays bad cop. He’s always the top cop and I think it’s working.”