Trump advisers call Bernie Sanders their 'ideal opponent.' Are they trying to psych out the Democrats?

According to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni, “President Trump’s advisers see Senator Bernie Sanders as their ideal Democratic opponent in November and have been doing what they can to elevate his profile and bolster his chances of winning the Iowa caucuses,” primarily by “attacking him” in order to “excite his base and draw attention away from other Democrats.”