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After a surprise win over Hillary Clinton in Michigan last Tuesday, Bernie Sanders is looking to do it again tomorrow. Five states hold primary contests. One of them is Ohio. That's where NPR's Sam Sanders is traveling with the Bernie Sanders campaign.
SAM SANDERS, BYLINE: Almost a week later, Bernie Sanders still can't stop talking about Michigan.
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BERNIE SANDERS: Nobody expected us to have won Michigan last week. Guess what? We won.
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S. SANDERS: That was Sanders at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday morning. He's been riding high and looking ahead to Tuesday's votes.
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B. SANDERS: Guess what? We have a good vote tomorrow. People come out. We're going to win here in Ohio.
S. SANDERS: And Sanders in hoping to do that by focusing a lot more on trade.
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B. SANDERS: I want to talk about another difference between Secretary Clinton and myself, a profound and important difference. And that is our disastrous trade policies.
S. SANDERS: He's making a pitch to working-class white voters in the Midwest, especially white men who have lost lots of manufacturing and auto jobs over the years. The thinking is that Sanders' opposition to global trade deals like NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership could help win them over.
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B. SANDERS: NAFTA, CAFTA, permanent normal trade relations with China have cost this country millions of decent-paying jobs.
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B. SANDERS: And the key difference between Secretary Clinton and myself is, not only did I vote against every one of these disastrous trade agreements. I helped lead the opposition to them.
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S. SANDERS: But for the last few days, Sanders' message on trade has almost been overshadowed by Donald Trump.
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DONALD TRUMP: Hey, Bernie. Get your people in line, Bernie.
S. SANDERS: Trump's been accusing Bernie Sanders of sending his supporters to disrupt Trump rallies. He started making that claim after a Trump rally was canceled in Chicago last Friday when protesters clashed with Trump supporters. There were protesters chanting Bernie in the crowd in Chicago and holding Bernie Sanders signs, but Sanders has said he didn't send them. Sanders talked about all of this in a CNN town hall.
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B. SANDERS: I hesitate to say this 'cause I really don't like to disparage public officials, but Donald Trump is a pathological liar.
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B. SANDERS: Our campaign does not believe and never will encourage anybody to disrupt anything. We have millions of supporters. People do what they do.
KERRI LONG: I think that it's something to cheer about.
S. SANDERS: That's Bernie Sanders supporter Kerri Long. I spoke with her at a Sanders rally in Springfield, Mo., over the weekend, and she said she's glad protesters broke up that Trump rally.
LONG: We don't tolerate racism. We don't tolerate bigotry. And if you want to come to certain states and certain cities and speak those things, I think that you're going to find a group of people who won't tolerate it. And if it comes to us peacefully rioting, then that's - or peacefully protesting, then that's what we'll do.
S. SANDERS: At a Sanders field office in Ferguson, Mo., Sanders supporter Rachel Johns said pretty much the same thing.
RACHEL JOHNS: We actually stand in unison with the people of Chicago. Ultimately, everything was disrupted, you know? And everyone got to express how they felt.
S. SANDERS: Johns said she protested during the Trump rally in St. Louis just before Chicago happened. And she said there might be more protests to come.
JOHNS: I would definitely do it again (laughter) if I had the opportunity to.
S. SANDERS: That might present a challenge as Sanders heads into Tuesday with big races throughout the country. He's trying to turn his supporters' energy into turnout, not protest, but it may be hard to get one without the other. Sam Sanders, NPR News, Youngstown, Ohio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
