COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Sen. Bernie Sanders reasserted himself on Thursday as the original champion of a progressive agenda many of his fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have since adopted.

The Vermont senator rallied a cheering throng in a noisy convention center in western Iowa, promoting the same themes that launched him to a near-tie with Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucuses in 2016. Sanders noted that he had fought for the progressive issues first.

“Shock of all shocks, those very same ideas are now supported by candidates — Democratic candidates — for president,” Sanders told a crowd of 2,000 in Council Bluffs in his first trip to Iowa since announcing his 2020 candidacy.

There were signs from the deafening cheers that Sanders had the potential to reignite the magic of 2016.

“I want to welcome you to a campaign which says, loudly and clearly, that the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, will not be kleptocracy, will not be hatred and lies. It will not be racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and religious bigotry,” Sanders said. “All of that is going to end.”

He called President Donald Trump “the most dangerous president in modern American history” and accused him of trying to “divide us up by the color of our skin, our country of origin, our gender, our religion and our sexual orientation. We’re going to do exactly the opposite,” Sanders said. “We are going to bring people together.”

The crowd was dominated by supporters from nearby Omaha, Neb., who are ineligible to participate in Iowa’s leadoff precinct caucuses.