Democratic panic over Sanders reaches fever pitch as socialist candidate cements front-runner status

Tensions between Democratic Party loyalists and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are reaching a boiling point as the democratic socialist cemented his front-runner status for the party's 2020 presidential nomination.

Ahead of his decisive victory in the Nevada caucuses, Sanders tweeted out a message that has been a central theme in his campaign: "I've got news for the Republican establishment. I've got news for the Democratic establishment. They can't stop us."

Such a message, though pivotal to his campaign and adorned by his supporters, sparked anger among traditional Democrats across media and politics. With strong Sanders showings in the early voting state contests so far, multiple candidates in the Democratic field have begun ripping the Vermont senator for his ideology of socialism, which they claim is not representative of the public.

“I ain’t a socialist, I ain’t a plutocrat; I’m a Democrat and proud of it. And I promise you, I wasn’t talking about running in the Democratic primary against him in 2012," Former Vice President Joe Biden said after taking distant second in the Nevada caucus, referring to the time Sanders nearly launched a primary campaign against the former President Barack Obama.

On the debate stage of the ninth Democratic presidential debate, Michael Bloomberg argued that should Sanders obtain the party's nomination for president, President Trump would be propelled to reelection.

"I can't think of a way that would make it easier for Donald Trump to get reelected than listening to this conversation. This is ridiculous," said the former New York City mayor. "We're not going to throw out capitalism. We tried that. Other countries tried that. It was called communism, and it just didn't work."

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg similarly slammed Sanders after the Vermont senator's Nevada caucus win on Saturday night, trashing his campaign as "an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans" in a speech to supporters.