Bernie Sanders calls himself a socialist, but apparently he’s not a true socialist’s socialist.

The World Socialist Web Site, maintained by the “Fourth Committee of the Fourth International,” wants America to know Sanders doesn’t represent real socialists, who view the 77-year-old career politician as a sell-out with capitalist and nationalistic policies that conflict with “genuine socialism.”

“He has demonstratively embraced economic nationalism and sought to make it a keystone of his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination,” WSWS’s Patrick Martin wrote in a recent column.

“This is deeply reactionary and demonstrates the unbridgeable gulf between Sanders, who calls himself a ‘democratic socialist,’ and genuine socialism, which is unshakably committed to the international unity of the working class.”

Bernie Sanders, Martin wrote, is no Karl Marx.

“Karl Marx, the founder of scientific socialism, proclaimed long ago that the working man has no country. But Bernie Sanders takes the opposite stance. He defends the national interests of US imperialism. His country is that of Wall Street, the Pentagon, the CIA, and corporate America,” according to Martin.

The World Socialist Web Site pointed to Sanders’ comments on trade with China, as well as opposition to open borders, ties to “imperialist think tanks” and “support for US provocations against Venezuela” as evidence he’s simply “a reliable instrument” for the rich and powerful.

“Sanders … postures as the defender of American workers in a conflict with Chinese workers over manufacturing jobs. The so-called ‘socialist’ has gone so far as to criticize President Trump at an April 13 rally for supposedly taking too soft a line with China in current trade talks,” Martin wrote.

By allegedly pitting American workers against workers in other countries, Sanders aligns with “capitalist politicians and union executives” who put American workers first – a policy that’s antithetical to the worldwide perspective of socialism, according to Martin.

“In the 2020 campaign, Sanders’ espousal of economic nationalism is part of a systematic effort on his part to demonstrate to the ruling class that he is a reliable instrument for its imperialist and neocolonialist foreign policy, helping to promote the anti-China fever and lining up (with minor reservations) behind Trump’s regime change operation in Venezuela,” the column read.

“Sanders’ nationalism and his support for the foreign policy of the American ruling class expose the fraudulent character of his supposed ‘socialism.’ It is impossible to oppose the ‘billionaire class’ at home while supporting its policy abroad,” Martin continued.

“The Socialist Equality Party warns workers and youth that the Sanders campaign of 2020, like its precursor four years ago, is aimed at trapping the movement of the working class within the confines of the right-wing capitalist party and blocking the emergence of a genuine, independent mass political movement of working people, fighting on a socialist and antiwar program.”