Bernie Sanders thinks Donald Trump is having his way in terms of completely manipulating the media.

In Sanders' view, Trump's background as a real estate mogul and former star of "The Apprentice" franchise gave him the tools he needs to excel in the cat-and-mouse game the 2016 Democratic presidential hopeful feels his Republican adversary seems to always be playing with the media.

"Well Chris, you're going to have to ask the media precisely why," Sanders recently told CNN anchor Chris Cuomo when quizzed as to why he thinks Trump's poll numbers are again on the rise. "I mean, Trump is a media guy."

In a recent CNN/ORC poll, Trump reached a campaign high 39 percent among Republican voters, more than twice the 18 percent garnered by his closest challenger, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

"And I think it has to do with the fact that Trump is very smart," said Sanders, adding Trump also "knows that the media is not so interested in the serious issues facing this country."

Sanders later added he feels the developing dynamic is more of an indictment of the media than it is the bombastic real estate mogul himself.

"You explain to me how a major network on the evening news has 81 minutes of Trump, 20 seconds of Bernie Sanders," he said. "Does that make sense to anybody?"

Later this month, Sanders plans to return to the critical early voting state of Iowa, where he is planning to conduct at least five town hall meetings, a meet-and-greet, and a New Year's Eve celebration at a downtown Des Moines hotel.

As for Trump, he added that the billionaire Republican candidate is "very effectively playing to the fears and anxieties that millions of people in this country have and have legitimately so. We're all concerned about the possibility of a terrorist attack against this country. We're all concerned about ISIS."

Almost as important, Sanders has preached throughout his campaign, is the dwindling size of the middle class.

"We're all concerned about a disappearing middle class," he added, hinting he feels Trump makes the situation worse by using minorities such as immigrants, Mexicans and Muslims as scapegoats.

"These are the kinds of debates that we have to have," he said. "And I would urge and beg the media to allow us to have that debate and not just pick up on Trump's one-liners."