2020 candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Sunday rejected comparisons between one of his supporters shooting Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and the suspected gunman in the El Paso shooting who allegedly shared President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration stance.
Agree, Sen Sanders DID NOT hurl hateful rhetoric nor dehumanized immigrants nor did he create a climate of hatred & violence…
We know who the INCITER-In-CHIEF is…and it definitely is NOT Sen, Sanders!
Absolutely right. Trump is not responsible for all the idiotic actions of his supporters.
He is responsible for the actions they are driven to by his rhetoric and incitement. He constantly demonizes non white people and simultaneously hints at taking his enemies out or committing other sorts of violence on them on a regular basis.
And the El Paso shooter was clearly and evidently driven by Trump’s rhetoric.
WTH. When I found myself on the receiving end of Sanders Bro. words and actions, it didn’t feel like a normal discussion of facts and opinions. Reading their comments on Twitter and their “I hate Hillary” rhetoric didn’t seem anywhere close to normal.
Excellent responses by Bernie here. I don’t agree with all of his opinions but I think there’s none of the inflammatory, hateful language in it that inspires unstable Trump admirers to stochastic violence. The attack at the ball field was truly random, where with El Paso you can draw a clear line from the rhetoric and mindset to the action. As much as you might disagree with Bernie I think it’s hard to argue he comes within miles of Trump’s vicious recklessness.
There was a lot of vitriol I remember myself. I think Bernie’s an intemperate, black-and-white thinker and he riled up a lot of fanboys to be the same way. But it wasn’t deliberately (IMHO) framed to fit with a violent white-supremacist mindset that a reasonable person would see already has caused terrorist incidents and other huge problems. The Bernie bro rhetoric was harmful, it caused problems, but I’m not aware of a pattern of physical violence from it.
I watched Face the Nation and saw Scalise make the thinly veiled comparison and it incensed me. Am glad that Bernie called it out for the BS it was/is.
These people have made grasping at straws into an art form. When did Bernie Sanders ever encourage violence against 45, his supporters, or any other creatures?! Ridiculous.
I think I read somewhere that in every county Trump has had a rally, hate crimes have gone up over 200%. Certainly not a coincidence.
the misogynistic hatred and vitriol bernie fed to his cult of internet incels was as appalling as anything trump ever tried. bernie’s refusal to disavow his followers actions in Nevada sealed the deal for me even before a crowd of them came after me online. He and they can not be defeated soon enough
I love you like a brother, mattinpa, but I disagree with your characterization of the “Bernie bro rhetoric”. “Bernie bros” was a made up trope by the Clinton campaign to stereotype his supporters as some sort of breaded, man-bun-wearing privileged white boys, thereby obfuscating his support among POC (at least the young - he won the majority of black voters under 44 in the Illinois primary, for example).
But I appreciate the fact that you recognize the fact that Sanders hasn’t engaged in the sort of vilification of his opponents that Trump traffics in.
I’m very fond of you as well. 
But I do try to distinguish, like Marvin Gaye recommended, between what I hear and what I see. What I remember seeing with my own lying eyes was this sudden influx here of people who’d jump all over you if you said one mumbling negative word about a certain politician who goes by the name of Bernie. What the hell, I remember thinking, is this all about? Then the phenomenon trailed off. I couldn’t tell you the man-bun percentage but I know there was this sudden upsurge of antagonism.
The Bernie Bro element is a real thing. They were/are aggressive on line, exhibited misogyny and racism, and also had many incidents where they were appearing at Trump rallies and were on the edge of provocation (if not actual provocation). They created a riot at the NV delegate selection meetings (something with Jon Ralston needles Berners about a lot). They were generally raucous and abusive in caucus sessions. A Berner hopped on stage at a Kamala Harris event and took her mic in an aggressive way. Bernie’s crew had a big sexual harassment problem. And it can’t be denied that a Berner shot Scalise. Bernie’s campaign attracts this element and it needs to be dealt with.
While I think Bernie is a more responsible fellow, he has created a guerrilla war mindset among his troops. They are his vanguard. His Bros spread misinformation and disinformation online and will happily traffic and promote themes that the Russians amplify. Tulsi Gabbard is essentially an agent of disinformation. She is a Sanders Institute member. It’s clear she came to that last debate to spread misinformation. It’s Bernie Bros that started the ‘Kamala is a cop’ meme in 2018. They’ve gone after Cory Booker. They play hardball. It’s no different today.
Given the violence that Trump has intentionally stoked and will continue to stoke, there is a higher burden and responsibility on Bernie Sanders to preach restraint, stay off the online harassment and disinformation, and tell their largely younger white followers that they have to set an example for others to follow.
I never had strong emotions about Bernie either way. You could class me as an interested observer. But if the “Bernie Bro” epithet was created by the Clinton campaign, then it was also created simultaneously by a whole bunch of commenters.
And I wouldn’t dream of characterizing anybody by physical characteristics (man-bun wearing white-boys?), but there was definitely a subset of the Bernie supporters who were shrill, inflexible, and mean. Unlike about every other “democrat” I’ve ever known.
I wouldn’t want to live next door to any of them, is all I’m sayin’.
Breaded? Manly? Bun?
/wink
Well, my recollection of the time is somewhat different. I think TPM at the time, and
Oh, FFS. When you come up with an example of Sanders’ supporters fomenting violence - other than the debunked by Snopes story about chair throwing at the Nevada caucus - then we can talk.
Wow, this is like reading the political version of the evil influence of rock n roll on youth today
I outlined them and left off stuff. NV was real. I saw it. They did steal campaign data as well. I also saw their nonsense at the Dem convention and the msg that sent. So did the Russians. Folks can be in denial about the vitriol his supporters generate but it’s key to the far left defections from Clinton which have us the mess we have today. The ‘or bust’ crowd is at it again for this election cycle too. Bernie gets no pass from me. It’s on him to set an example for his supporters especially those in the volatile young white male demographic.
Deny all you want. Talk to any female Clinton supporter from 2016 and they’ll tell you. Bernie created a bad culture and it’s on him to fix it. No passes from me. No excuses.
It never ends.
Oh, the Russians and Bernie?
Is that you, Joe McCarthy?