Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders used a Monday speech in Atlantic City, New Jersey to attack presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump and Carl Icahn, one of his most vocal supporters.
In response, the billionaire investor said the senator from Vermont was wrong about his personal attack — but generally right on his overall message.
"We need to tell the Carl Icahns of the world that that greed is not acceptable," Sanders said in his speech, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Sanders spoke out against Icahn's involvement in stripping some Trump Taj Mahal workers' benefits when he took control of the casino during bankruptcy, the report said.
In his response, Icahn criticized Sanders for not "even bothering to give me a call to hear my views and the real facts."
Those facts, he said, include that "few would disagree that the Taj would have closed with thousands of job losses if I hadn't come in and provided tens of millions in capital to save it and save those jobs." Icahn also criticized the casino workers' union, which has endorsed Sanders.
And then Icahn — the vocal Trump supporter, who has called his candidate a "no-brainer" — said he agreed with Sanders.
"But, I do agree with Bernie Sanders on one thing: the income gap in this country is a major problem and I agree (with certain exceptions) that those that manage capital, as well as many CEOs, are ridiculously overpaid," Icahn said. "If this problem is not addressed, there may well be disastrous consequences for the country."
This isn't the first time Icahn has found himself agreeing with a Democrat: He told CNBC in April that GOP lawmakers were suffering from a near "pathological" misunderstanding of the national economy.
"The Republican Party that I used to be more sympathetic with — I'm right in the middle now, although as you know I'm for Trump — but what I would say is Congress is in this massive gridlock," he said, explaining that the Republican-controlled body is "obsessed with this deficit to a point that I think it's almost pathological."