Bernie Sanders decodes Donald Trump's 'delusional' and 'totally insane' tweets for Conan O'Brien

Bernie Sanders decodes Donald Trump tweets — (Image credit: Conan/YouTube)

Conan O'Brien is also aware that President-elect Donald Trump has a Twitter account, and on Tuesday's Conan he asked guest Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for his reaction to Trump's latest "conspiracy tweets," about how millions of illegal voters robbed him of a popular-vote victory and his assertion that people who burn the American flag should face prison or a revocation of citizenship.

Sanders tackled them one at a time, starting with the tweet about illegal voters. "First of all, it's delusional, it's totally insane," he said. "Nobody believes that who studies elections or election patterns." But there's also a "scary" message, Sanders said: "When he says that, he's really sending a signal to Republicans all over this country, Republican leaders, and what he's saying is: 'We have got to suppress the vote, we have got to make it harder for poor people, people of color, immigrants, elderly people, to participate because they may be voting against us. And that's scary stuff."

On flag-burning, Sanders rolled his eyes, listing the real problems the country faces — "massive income and wealth inequality," poverty, climate change — and noting that Trump "is talking about three people who might burn the American flag." But there's a "hidden message" here, too, Sanders said, "and that is: Be careful if you are prepared to dissent." The Supreme Court has already ruled flag-burning constitutionally protected free expression, "but what he is really saying is, 'If you really want to dissent, be careful. It's not just the American flag here, we're watching you.' That's what's scary about that." (It could also just be that Trump was think-tweeting while watching Fox News at the wrong moment.) Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.