Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Tuesday to talk about climate change and income inequality and to leave no question that he thinks Donald J. Trump is a rabble-rouser.
A minute into the 10-minute interview, Mr. Fallon asked Mr. Sanders to respond to Mr. Trump’s recent proposal to bar all Muslims from entering the United States.
“Throughout history, you’ve had demagogues trying to divert attention away from the real issues,” Mr. Sanders said. “And what someone like Trump is trying to do is divide us up. A few months ago, we were supposed to hate Mexicans that he thinks are all criminals and rapists. Now, we are supposed to hate Muslims. And that kind of crap is not going to work in the United States of America.”
The crowd responded with loud applause that lasted several seconds. Mr. Sanders used the moment, with the crowd still clapping, to press issues at the core of his campaign. He said the United States faced enormous problems including a disappearing middle class and a corrupt campaign finance system.