Sanders laughs off Trump’s third-party question

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders late Thursday night dismissed a question posed by presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump about whether he’ll launch a third-party bid if he doesn’t secure the Democratic nomination.

During an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the host read Sanders a question posed by Trump.

“Both primary systems are rigged, but in particular the Democrats’ ridiculous system of superdelegates. Will you run as an independent when Deborah Wasserman Schultz and the party bosses steal this nomination away from you?” Kimmel said, reading Trump’s question.

The Vermont senator responded that Trump’s question was more “self-serving” and teased that he appreciates the concern.

“Well, I think there’s a little bit of a self-service there from Trump,” Sanders said.

{mosads}“You think he’s really worried about me?” he joked with Kimmel. “I really appreciate his concern for me. I know it comes straight from his heart.”

Trump, who appeared on Kimmel’s show Wednesday night, was allowed to submit a question for the host to ask Sanders the following day.

Sanders remained optimistic that he will in fact run against Trump, but as the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party. 

“What I hope will happen is in fact that I will run against him as the Democratic nominee for president of the United States and if I do, we’re going to beat him and beat him bad,” he said.

Sanders has an uphill battle in the final weeks of primary season. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton holds a large delegate lead over him, but the senator maintains that he will stay in until the July convention.

This wasn’t the first time Trump has urged Sanders to run as an independent. His question comes amid heightened tensions between Sanders and Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Sanders has accused the party of favoring Clinton, but the chairwoman has reiterated that the party has remained neutral in the primary.

Sanders’s question to Trump on the Wednesday night show was if the Republican hopeful would debate him ahead of California’s June 7 primary, and Trump’s off-hand response sparked a back and forth between the two sides that grabbed headlines and pushed the hypothetical showdown closer to becoming reality.