Sanders faces major challenge from Zionist, Saudi billionaires: Expert

US Senator Bernie Sanders will face a major challenge from Zionist and Saudi billionaires during his presidential election campaign over his pro-Palestinian views and for revealing “taboo truths”, an American scholar says.

During a town hall meeting on Tuesday in Nevada, Sanders, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, condemned Saudi Arabia's regime, calling the country’s leaders “murderous thugs.”

"For years, we have loved Saudi Arabia - our wonderful ally; the only problem is the people who run that country are murderous thugs," Sanders said.

The Vermont senator described Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a "billionaire dictator."

“He is far better than most of the rest of them and one wonders whether he will get away with this attitude if he actually manages to become president, or whether like Donald Trump, his truth telling during the campaign will be curtailed and he’ll be forced  to toe the line and follow the policis of the deep state,” said Kevin Barrett, an author, journalist and radio host with a Ph.D.  in Islamic and Arabic Studies.

“Bernie Sanders has a chance to actually win, assuming that the very powerful forces aligned against him, led by the billionaires, including the billionaire thugs in Saudi Arabia and their friends over in Israel are unable to find a way to cheat him of the White House,” Barrett told Press TV on Thursday.

“He was cheated in 2016 by Hillary Clinton and the DNC (Democratic National Committee) is run by the same type of Zionist billionaires who definitely are not going to lay down and let Bernie get into the White House easily,” Barrett added.

US Senator Sanders calls Saudi Arabia's rulers ‘murderous thugs’

US Senator Bernie Sanders, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, has called Saudi Arabia

During the town hall meeting, Sanders also slammed Israel’s policies against the Palestinian people and pointed to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

"To be for the Israeli people and to be for peace in the Middle East does not mean that we have to support right-wing, racist governments that currently exist in Israel".

Sanders made similar remarks during a presidential debate in December, when he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “racist” and said US foreign policy cannot be only pro-Israel, but must be "pro-Palestinian" as well.

"Take a look at what's going on in Gaza right now. You got youth unemployment, 70 percent, you know people can't even leave the area," he said.

Sanders has also been a relentless critic of President Donald Trump, repeatedly calling him a liar and the “most dangerous president” in US history.

Sanders’ popularity has risen steadily over the past several weeks, especially among men, African Americans and rural residents, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. He leads in polls for Nevada’s nominating caucuses on Saturday.

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