--- title: Donald Trump Accidentally Compared Himself to Bernie Sanders description: During an MSNBC town hall with Donald Trump, the moderators tricked the GOP front runner into comparing himself to Bernie Sanders. canonical: https://time.com/4228569/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-msnbc-south-carolina/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-18T02:01:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:31.206Z article:section: Politics og:title: How MSNBC Tricked Trump Into Comparing Himself to Sanders og:description: "Is it insulting? Because there are some similarities" og:url: https://time.com/4228569/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-msnbc-south-carolina/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte217ac459dadd9a2/69887dca0a4a22242e9c8641/trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Dallas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How MSNBC Tricked Trump Into Comparing Himself to Sanders twitter:description: "Is it insulting? Because there are some similarities" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte217ac459dadd9a2/69887dca0a4a22242e9c8641/trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How MSNBC Tricked Trump Into Comparing Himself to Sanders > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=13fb3823-7f54-4193-a3f1-edffe4ea6c47&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 18, 2016 2:01 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the American Airlines Center on Sept. 14, 2015, in Dallas Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the American Airlines Center on Sept. 14, 2015, in Dallas Tom Pennington—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 18, 2016 2:01 AM UTC Insurgent outsider candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders may be [the political odd couple](http://time.com/4217037/the-trump-and-sanders-show-why-two-outsiders-are-winning/) of the 2016 election, but that’s hardly a comparison that business tycoon Trump would like to make with socialist Sanders. But that’s exactly what MSNBC tricked him into doing during a town-hall special Wednesday night. Moderator Mika Brzezinski posed this question to Trump: “Who am I describing?” Trump takes the bait and says she’s describing him. “Actually, I was describing Bernie Sanders,” she replied. “Is it insulting? Because there are some similarities.” “I’ll tell you, there’s one thing that we’re very similar in,” Trump then said of himself and the Vermont Senator. “He knows that our country is being ripped off big league, big league, on trade. The problem is, he can’t do anything about it, he’s not going to be able to do, whereas I’m going to do things … He doesn’t understand it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4228569/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-msnbc-south-carolina/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4228569/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-msnbc-south-carolina/"},"headline":"How MSNBC Tricked Trump Into Comparing Himself to Sanders","datePublished":"2016-02-18T02:01:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:31.206Z","description":"\"Is it insulting? 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