Who's a thunk it? Bernie Sanders at Liberty University!

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Bernie Sanders delivered a plea to the students at Liberty University, the Christian school founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, to question the morality of income inequality in the United States, as he took his populist message to an unlikely audience.

Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont running for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke at the weekly convocation of the same university where Ted Cruz announced his presidential bid in March, and at times got enthusiastic applause.

He did not back off his populist, strictly liberal message, opening his remarks by voicing his support of gay marriage and abortion rights.

But he asked for the students and other audience members to find common ground, often citing biblical passages during the speech.

“It would, I think, be hard for anyone in this room to make the case that the United States today is a just society or anything close to a just society,” Sanders said. “In America today, there is massive injustice in terms of income and wealth inequality. Injustice is rampant.”