Bernie Sanders Was Called Out for Online Supporters’ Vicious Behavior. He Shut It Down.

“They are not part of our movement.”

Bernie Sanders speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, in Las Vegas.John Locher/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Bernie Sanders was put on the spot at the Democratic debate Wednesday night over the vicious online attacks by some of his online supporters. Sanders bluntly condemned their behavior.

“We have more than 10.6 million people on Twitter, and 99.9 percent of them are decent human beings,” Sanders said. “If there are a few people who make ugly remarks, I disown those people.”

“They are not part of our movement,” he concluded.

Sanders’ comments came after former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg reminded viewers that Sanders supporters had threatened top officials of Nevada’s Culinary Union, a Democratic powerhouse, over the phone and online in the lead-up to Saturday’s Nevada caucuses, the third nominating contest of the Democratic primary. (The union has recently warned its members about Sanders’ Medicare-for-All plan.)

Buttigieg seized on Sanders’ response, suggesting the senator was showing a lack of personal responsibility. Buttigieg said he respected what Sanders’ said, but wondered, “At a certain point, you gotta ask yourself: Why did this pattern arise? Why is this especially the case among your supporters?”

Sanders vehemently disagreed, adding that his campaign surrogates like former Ohio state senator Nina Turner have also been the subject of “ugly, sexist, racist attacks.”

Buttigieg pushed back: “It’s about how you inspire people to act. I think you have to accept some responsibility.”

Sanders’ online supporters have been a source of fascination and derision throughout the campaign, earning particular scrutiny after the behavior toward the Culinary Union leaders came to light. Earlier this week, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg released an ad featuring a supercut of some of Sanders’ supporters most stunning barbs. Sanders already condemned that behavior during a CNN town hall on Tuesday night, telling an audience that he doesn’t tolerate “ugly attacks against anybody.”

“I have an idea about how you stop sexism on the internet,” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar volunteered after the exchange Wednesday. “Nominate a woman.” Yeah, sure, that’ll solve it, Amy.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate