Conservative commentator Johnny Burtka argued Tuesday that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is best equipped to take on President Trump on the debate stage.
“Bernie clearly has the pugnacity,” Burtka, executive director for The American Conservative magazine, told Hill.TV. “He’s the only one that I think could ultimately take on Donald Trump on the debate stage.”
Burtka said that Sanders and fellow 2020 contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have effectively “amplified the progressive voice” in the Democratic race by largely avoiding direct attacks on each other.
“It seems like there’s been a multiplier effect in terms of the progressive energy that’s coming from Bernie and Warren,” he said.
“They’ve done a great job on the debate stage playing off each other, eventually they’re going to have to decide who’s the best candidate.”
Warren and Sanders have been jockeying for second place in polls recently, behind former Vice President Joe Biden.
A Quinnipiac University poll released on Monday showed Warren and Sanders in a statistical tie among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters nationwide. Warren had 17 percent support to Sanders’s 16 percent, the poll found.
The survey showed Biden still leading the crowded Democratic field with 30 percent support.
All three top-tier candidates are poised to take the stage Thursday night for the sixth Democratic debate. The debate is set to take place at Loyola Marymount University, despite a labor dispute that had threatened its prospects leading up to the event.
—Tess Bonn
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