Sen. Bernie Sanders is accusing former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz of “blackmailing” the Democratic Party.

During an interview Tuesday on CBS “This Morning,” Sanders spoke about his announcement that he’s running for president a second time.

After calling Trump a “pathological liar” and boasting about his socialist wish list, Sanders was asked about Schultz potentially running for president in 2020 as an Independent candidate.

CBS host John Dickerson asked Sanders about Schultz previously stating that he would not run for president if the Democrats nominated a moderate candidate.

“Oh, isn’t that nice?” Sanders mocked. “Why is Howard Schultz on every television station in this country? Why are you quoting Howard Schultz? Because he’s a billionaire.”

“There are a lot of people I know personally, who work hard for a living and make 40, 50 thousand dollars a year, who know a lot more about politics than in all due respect does Mr. Schultz,” Sanders added.

The Vermont socialist then claimed that Schultz is only getting attention from the media because he’s a billionaire.

“What is he [doing,] blackmailing the Democratic Party? [Saying,] ‘If you don’t nominate Bernie Sanders, he’s not gonna run?’” Sanders said. “Well, I don’t think we should succumb to that kind of blackmail.”

Dickerson then asked Sanders about Schultz’s claim that the Democrats won’t be able to defeat President Trump if they nominate a “radical candidate.”

Perhaps taking it personally, Bernie didn’t like that question.

“I think his deeper theory is, ‘Hey, I’m a billionaire. Leave me alone and let me make as much as money as I can without paying my fair share of taxes,’” Sanders shot back, getting animated with his response.

Sanders is one of many Democrats who has lost their mind of a potential Schultz third party run.

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Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington kicked it up a notch last month and argued that a possible Schultz’s run is a “fatal disease” like the measles outbreak in his state.

During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press Daily,” host Chuck Todd asked Inslee whether Schultz will run as a Democrat or Independent.

https://youtu.be/a51ZfKvFzzE

“If he wants to run, he is welcome to run as a Democrat, welcome to the pool. Don’t be afraid of running in a place that actually can help people make decisions,” Inslee said about Schultz.

“His candidacy is not just a distraction. It is a potential fatal disease, if you will, infecting us with Donald Trump for another four years. We cannot have that. I just declared an emergency for measles in my state and this is an emergency as well,” Inslee added.

During a segment Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” host Nicolle Wallace aggressively went after Steve Schmidt, a network contributor who is currently working as an adviser to Schultz.

Wallace furiously told Schmidt that “people are terrified” that he’ll help re-elect Trump.

“We have never — it is a — people are terrified, and people are terrified that you, one of the most visible Trump critics, are now behind someone they feel like can take away the Democrats’ best chance of toppling Donald Trump,” Wallace decried.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, went on a Twitter tirade against Schultz because he said her massive tax hike proposal resembled socialism.

While on Fox News, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez practically begged Schultz to run on the Democratic side.

“I have respect for Howard Schultz,” Perez said. “If he chooses to get in the race, I hope he gets in in the Democratic party. We’ll treat him very fairly.”