--- title: Bernie Sanders Declines to Say Whether He'd Have Beat Trump description: Bernie Sanders on Thursday declined to say whether he would have fared better against President-elect Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton. canonical: https://time.com/4567327/bernie-sanders-donald-trump/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-10T23:48:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:24:40.438Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bernie Sanders Declines to Say Whether He Could’ve Beat Donald Trump og:description: "Right now, where we are is where we are" og:url: https://time.com/4567327/bernie-sanders-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3c69939872c3505/6988ae15bc6cfc2a1f3df4a0/bernie-sanders-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bernie Sanders campaigns for Democrats in Colorado og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bernie Sanders Declines to Say Whether He Could’ve Beat Donald Trump twitter:description: "Right now, where we are is where we are" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3c69939872c3505/6988ae15bc6cfc2a1f3df4a0/bernie-sanders-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bernie Sanders Declines to Say Whether He Could’ve Beat Donald Trump  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Nov 10, 2016 11:48 PM UTC  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders points to a supporter during a Get Out the Vote rally at Colorado College, in which he campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, on Nov. 5, 2016, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders points to a supporter during a Get Out the Vote rally at Colorado College, in which he campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, on Nov. 5, 2016, in Colorado Springs, Colo.Colorado Springs Gazette—TNS via Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Nov 10, 2016 11:48 PM UTC [Bernie Sanders](http://time.com/4565698/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-election/) on Thursday declined to say whether he would have fared better against [President-elect Donald Trump](http://time.com/4566063/how-will-donald-trump-govern/?xid=homepage) than Hillary Clinton, who beat him in the Democratic primary race. The Vermont senator, in his first interview since Tuesday’s election, told [CNN](https://twitter.com/CNN/status/796839280970792961) that he “would have loved” to have gone head-to-head with Trump in the general election but that there is no point in discussing the hypothetical matchup anymore. “What good does it do now? The election is over,” Sanders said. “Donald Trump won. I would have loved to have had the opportunity to run against him, but that did not end up being the case. Right now, where we are is where we are.” “We’ve got to look to the future,” he added. > [](https://twitter.com/CNN/status/796839063261102080) Sanders also reiterated the message he made in a statement issued the day after Election Day that said he intends to work with Trump on issues that affect middle-class working families—but that he would fight Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric. “I will vigorously oppose him if he appeals to racism or sexism or some of the other discriminatory measures that he brought up during his campaign,” Sanders told CNN on Thursday. “If he is going to resort to bigotry, trying to divide us up, we will oppose him tooth and nail.” Sanders said he has not yet spoken to Clinton after her bruising battle with Trump. “I owe her a call, and I will make that call, but I have not,” he said. 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