Bernie Sanders says he admires Trump's hair — and that's about it

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders didn't quite play along when a student asked him Sunday to name one thing he admired about President Donald Trump.

A Drake University student told Sanders, of Vermont, he wanted to smooth political divisiveness with the question. He was part of a youth forum sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Des Moines Public Schools. Sanders took a few steps, and, smile across his face, mimed getting punched in the gut.

After a moment, Sanders, who long has sported snow white hair, joked that he likes the color of the president’s locks.

Getting serious, Sanders told the student he might not like what he says next. While he has some Republican colleagues in the Senate he respects and likes, the party has moved far to the conservative right since the days of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he said. The current Republican president, however, is a racist, a sexist, a bigot and other pejoratives, Sanders said, a common line on his campaign stops.

“You have to speak that out,” Sanders told the crowd. “And I have to do everything I can to take that kind of behavior on.”

Pressed on the question by a moderator, and Sanders took another swing at an answer.

“He gets up at 3 o’clock in the morning to tweet,” Sanders told the crowd. “I’m impressed by people who get up at 3 o’clock in the morning.”

Nick Coltrain is a politics and data reporter for the Register. Reach him at ncoltrain@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8361. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bernie Sanders says what he admires about President Donald Trump