Sanders: Trump Calling Mexicans Rapists, Criminals Was Racist

Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments about Mexicans rapists and criminals during his campaign announcement early this summer was racist.

Sanders said, “I will just say this, though, that I have really very strong concerns with Trump and other Republican candidates appealing to really some bad instincts in the American people. You do not call people from other countries, in this case Mexicans, rapists or criminals. You don’t categorize a people like that. That is racism. That should not be taking place in the year 2015.”

He added, “Yes, we can have a serious debate about the need for immigration reform, but let’s not make these derogatory and disparaging and racist statements about a whole group of people. That is not what America should be about.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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