Donald Trump was an atypical candidate for the Republican party, to say the least, in part because he advocated against cuts to programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Now Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wants to remind the GOP about their standard bearer’s positions, using one of Trump’s own tweets as a visual aid on the Senate floor during a debate about the budget and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act on Thursday afternoon.

“I think it is interesting that we listen to what Donald Trump said during the campaign … Republicans listen and hear what their leader had to say about these issues,” he said. “And he didn’t say it once in the middle of the night, he didn’t say it once in an interview—this was a central part of his campaign, this is what he asked millions of elderly people and working class people to vote for him on. These are the principles that Donald Trump ran and won the presidency on.”

That’s when he unveiled the tweet, dated May 7, 2015, that reads, “I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me”

Sanders clarified that, “This is not Bernie Sanders talking. This is Donald Trump talking,” as he continued to read off Trump tweets opposed to program cuts.

“If all that [Trump] was talking about was campaign rhetoric, then what he is obliged to do now is tell the American people he was lying,” said Sanders. Otherwise, he wants Trump to issue a statement saying he’ll veto any attempts to cut the programs and that Republicans should stop wasting their time.

Indeed, this has been Sanders’ strategy since the election, when he said in a statement, “To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him.”

For some backstory on how the sign made it to the Senate floor, it looks like Sanders deputy communications director Mike Casca brought it in, earning a chuckle from Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) along the way.

This being the internet, it didn’t take long for the photo to become a meme.

Filed Under: bernie sanders, donald trump, meanwhile on capitol hill,