Bernie Sanders Surprises Stephen Colbert During New York City Campaign Stop

• 

  Bernie Sanders addresses attendees during a campaign rally at St. Mary’s Park in the Bronx, New York, March 31, 2016.

  Photo: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

• 

  Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally at St. Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 31, 2016, in New York. Later that day, Sanders stopped by CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

  Photo: Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images

Bernie Sanders spent Thursday in New York campaigning in the Bronx for the state's April 19 primary. Between rallies, the Democratic presidential candidate found time to pay a visit to the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan and say hi to comedian Stephen Colbert. 

During Colbert's "Wheel of News" segment — a "Wheel of Fortune"-inspired bit in which Colbert spins a wheel of random discussion topics and games — in Thursday's episode of CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," the comedian spun the wheel and landed on "mystery guest." That guest turned out to be Sanders.

Colbert asked the Vermont senator about Hillary Clinton's massive lead in the superdelegate count and if Sanders thought some of those superdelegates would switch to his side by the time of the Democratic Party's convention in Philadelphia, July 25-28. 

"I think the superdelegates should listen to the will of their people. If you get 60, 70, 80 percent of the vote in a state, I think superdelegates should vote for us," said Sanders, touting his recent caucus wins. "I think what we need in the Democratic Party is some democracy."

Sanders was not done. The presidential candidate also wanted to spin Colbert's news wheel. However, the surprise appearance became a comedy bit when Sanders noticed that a "Late Show" staff member was hiding under Colbert's desk to hold the mock crank Colbert was using to activate the wheel. 

“Hey! There is a human being down here,” Sanders shouted. “What is going on? What are you doing to this worker? What kind of operation are you running, Stephen?”

“It’s a talk show, Bernie,” Colbert smirked.

Sanders eventually got his chance to spin and ended up shooting shirts from a T-shirt cannon into the "Late Show" crowd. 

Sanders and Democratic front-runner Clinton were both campaigning in New York this week. Sanders has publicly called on Clinton to debate him in the state, while the former secretary of state's campaign has said that she will not agree to more debates until Sanders takes a more positive tone in his campaign. There are 247 delegates at stake in the New York primary. 

So far, Clinton has secured 1,243 pledged delegates, while Sanders has only 975. When superdelegates are factored in, Clinton’s number grows to 1,712, compared with Sanders' 1,004.