At WSSU, Sanders Positions Himself As Candidate ‘For the 99 Percent’

Democratic Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders made a stop at Winston-Salem State University as he campaigns ahead of the Super Tuesday primary.

Sanders made the pitch that he's not a billionaire and isn't trying to raise money from them as he seeks the Democratic nomination. Instead, he argued he's the candidate for the 99 percent.

“As someone who grew up in a working-class family, somebody who lived in a rent-controlled apartment for all of my childhood, I'm proud to tell you this is a campaign of the working class, by the working class and for the working class,” he said.

Sanders has been the big winner in Democrats' initial presidential contests. The self-proclaimed democratic socialist could be heading toward more victories within the next week. 

“The establishment is getting very, very nervous, and the establishment's line lately has been: ‘Oh, Bernie, he can't beat Donald Tump,'” he said. “Well, you know what? We are the strongest campaign to defeat Donald Trump, because we have the energy and we have the excitement.”

Sanders spoke at another Triad HBCU back in September at Bennett College in Greensboro. He touted many of the same themes Thursday as he did then, including erasing college debt and expunging the records of those with marijuana convictions.

Now that Sanders has risen to the top of the Democratic field, the audience has grown in both size and enthusiasm.

After the rally, Sanders and scores of his supporters marched to the Anderson Center, an early-voting precinct on WSSU's campus.