Over the weekend, there was still a lot of grumbling from Bernie Sanders’ supporters. Within hours of Sanders’ campaign suspension, an idea had taken hold among those supporters: that Joe Biden needed to somehow personally come to each one of them and ask them, hat in hand, for their support. And even then, many of those Sanders supporters were making noise about not supporting Biden, etc. The whole thing was being amplified by Russian bots, I have no doubt. The Democratic Socialists made a big deal about how they weren’t endorsing Biden, and then Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez gave an interview to the NYT about how Biden had never approached her, and the feeling was that even with Sanders out, his supporters were still going to do the most to distract from the main issue, Biden vs. Trump.
I was honestly expecting that to continue for months and months. I was preparing myself for it. But then something odd happened: Bernie Sanders appeared on a live-stream hosted by Biden and Biden’s campaign on Monday. The live-stream was about the coronavirus and the Trump administration’s sh-tty response to the pandemic. Within the conversation, Sanders endorsed Biden:
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who ended his White House bid last week, said Monday that he is endorsing former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Sanders made the announcement on a live stream hosted by Biden examining the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Joe, I know that there is an enormous responsibility on your shoulders right now, and it is imperative that all of us work together,” Sanders said on the live stream. “Today, I am asking all Americans — I’m asking every Democrat; I’m asking every independent; I’m asking a lot of Republicans — to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse, to make certain that we defeat somebody who I believe is the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country,” Sanders told Biden.
“I will do all that I can to see that that happens, Joe,” Sanders pledged, after calling President Trump a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe and a religious bigot who botched the nation’s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I want to thank you for that. It’s big deal,” Biden said. “Your endorsement means a great deal, a great deal to me… I look forward to working with you. And I am going to need you badly. You’ve refused to accept that we can’t change what’s wrong in our nation,” Biden told his former rival, adding that Sanders doesn’t “get enough credit” for being a voice that forces Americans to take a look in the mirror and examine whether they are living up to their ideals.
Despite a hard-fought primary battle, Sanders’s endorsement of Biden was not a surprise: Both candidates’ teams had been in touch in recent days to work on “how we can best go forward together,” Sanders said last week.
This is twice now that Sanders has surprised me with how he isn’t dragging this out, which is what he did in 2016. Was it because in 2016, he was running against Hillary Clinton/a woman? Or did he actually learn some sh-t about how NOT to act with 2016, and he actually vowed to do some things differently this time? I’m not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, I am just genuinely surprised that Bernie would endorse Biden so quickly and so thoroughly, with so little hype. I wonder…about so much of this. I would be willing to bet that Obama has been making a lot of calls. But I would also bet that Biden, ever the glad-handing pol and the Democrats’ happy warrior, managed to charm Sanders all on his own.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Apparently the two men personally like each other. I read that Biden treated Sanders well years ago, before Sanders became nationally known, and Sanders hasn’t forgotten that.
I heard that too. People who worked with Biden in the Senate, even those who oppose his positions, have a very high regard for him as a person.
Biden has a LOT of goodwill on Capital Hill. I pray it serves him well going into November.
that’s excellent news. United We Stand!
If you think this changed all minds don’t go on twitter. The hardcore bros/broettes are still at it, savaging anyone who tries to say it’s imperative to rid our country of trump. They don’t care about the courts, about the environment, about the rollback of rights, about anything. Now they’re saying, “It’s not the man, it’s the movement.” Not only do they not care if trump’s re-elected, I think they want it as a giant FU!
I agree they’re pretty vile on Twitter but I’d like to think they are a small minority of voters. A couple have grudgingly conceded that they’ll vote for Biden. Those who still insist they won’t, F them. I finally have a glimmer of hope that Trump can be defeated in Nov.
Twitter doesn’t reflect the real world and remember some of that is Russian bots. But some of the Bernie blue check bro’s are gross I’ll give you that.
All that said I do think Biden needs to “meet” with AOC and some of Bernie supporters and see how he can win them over.
Russian bots or not, I think twitter, FB, all social media played a large part in 2016. So easy to make misinformation and lies go viral and influence a lot of people.
22% of U.S. adults use Twitter; they‘re younger and more likely to be Democrats than the general public. Most users rarely tweet, but the most prolific 10% create 80% of tweets from adult U.S. users. Pew Research Institute, 2019.
I honestly don’t think Twitter represents the country. It’s a certain subgroup. I will say 22% is a LOT, but they’re not all or even mostly really avid users.
My cousin isn’t sure she’ll vote for Biden, atm she will vote blue for everything except president, she’s still torn in what to do. I think major thing is that they don’t consider Biden as better than Trump – just the less evil. This is expected, he runs pretty much against everything the youth is asking for and openly said he doesn’t sympathize with them (he said he’d veto’ed Med4All, he isn’t really for free college, that 90’s crime bill…) so they just see him as a deep state conservative in a blue disguise.
This is why I don’t agree with people calling every Bernie supporter/progressive who isn’t aligning to the blue moderates a “toxic bro”. Most aren’t like that, most just want big changes and they just don’t see anything worth fighting for in Joe
“Most aren’t like that, most just want big changes and they just don’t see anything worth fighting for in Joe”
Well they are a lot less likely to get anything near anything they want with four more years of Trump. In the this case “the lesser evil” is the only reasonable choice if they ever want to see real change any time soon.
honest to G-d, I don’t get the [insert name] isn’t different or isn’t better than Trump. This is how we ended up with Trump and the GOP making SCOTUS comfortable enough to be overtly partisan (Roberts’ decision on gerrymandering admitting it’s wrong to rig the vote but then saying the way to fix it was by voting to end it? & Roberts’ decision to support WI GOP led state supreme court to require people literally risk their lives to vote . . .) and an administration going out of their way to make the pandemic worse but sure, the democrats are exactly the same
I said this 4 years ago and I’ll say it again, those self-proclaimed ideologically pure progressives who “don’t see anything worth fighting for in” someone who isn’t Bernie are going out of their way to undermine every single thing the progressive movement claims to hold dear. What they’re doing to protect their ideological purity makes as much sense as murdering someone with a chronic condition with the rationale that, in the absence of a cure, it’s better that they die a painful death than utilize available treatments that mitigate the effects of the disease
@esmom: I actually agree with you. I believe that 4 years of orange would be disastrous and they way he’s speaking lately scares tf out me. On the other hand I can see where the rejection to Biden comes from. My point is people should not dismiss every person refusing to vote for Biden as a privilege crybaby who didn’t got their way.
I think lately Joe is doing a better job in trying to lend a hand to progressives and I’m glad to see Bernie endorsing him. I think the VP pick will be a decisive point for many.
@pottymouth pup: I personally don’t think its just about “ideological pureness”, but real life situations. Biden’s crime bill is a disgrace, he introduced a budget freeze for social security in the 80s -and bragged how the other dems were against it. He doesn’t believe in single payer insurance for universal health which is important to a generation that most likely won’t be able to pay a super expensive health insurance. My cousin – a former dreamer – hates Biden since he told an immigrant activist to vote for Orange after he was asked to stop mass deportations. These are real world things. And yes we can argue the Orange man is worst of them all, I’m saying I would rather not to group everyone is a “toxic” category just bc they strongly disagree with Biden
Good. Unity in the democratic party is what’s needed.
Yay!!! Now please let us defeat the monster!!!
I love Bernie. He knows we have to beat trump no matter what! I will obviously be voting for Biden. But I do hope joe offers Bernie a good job in the White House!!
I truly believe that Bernie will earn a good position in the White House.
In fact, a good way to shut some of the hard-core Bros & Broettes would be if Joe would openly discuss that. (Not sure what the legalities are around that, though)
This is what we need. I’m not the biggest Bernie fan, but it mostly ties into his base. I do like a lot of ideas he had, and think they’re still important to visit. But seeing him endorse Joe during such a dark period is great. I have no shade there.
Agreed that this is what we need. I’ve said before on here that as a progressive, I’m a Bernie supporter, a Warren supporter, a supporter of all progressives. Biden is the clear nominee though, and I’ve also supported him since that became clear.
I do want to get it out there that Bernie’s base is huge and most of us are reasonable people who hold similar ideals and would prefer a progressive president. His bros are a relatively small part of his base. But they are LOUD, the loudest. That is the problem. I do wish he would denounce that part of his base. But the bros aren’t real progressives anyway IMO. They’re toxic (mostly) males who just want to shout at people. To consider voting for Donald f*cking Trump because your preferred candidate doesn’t win the nomination means you don’t actually believe in the platform.
Exactly this, Green Desert! Most of us (progressives who support Sanders, Warren, AOC, etc.) aren’t “Bernie Bros.” We’re pretty reasonable people who want to make our country better for everyone. They’re just the loudest voices in the room … like the tiresome guys you knew in college who took one Philosophy 101 class and wanted to hold court about Kant and Descartes at every gathering, they aren’t representative of most people who support the ideas they’re shilling – but they just won’t shut up.
Biden is very well liked among the DC crowd. His reputation is for being a really decent guy.
Pleased Sanders endorsed Biden. Both are in a win-win situation. Bernie will remain a strong voice in a Biden administration. I think with Biden we will see a powerhouse of women in important positions.
Nope, he did it because Biden is a man and Hillary is still a woman in 2020 just like 2016.
Does strategic voting take place in the United States? In Canada, we have so many parties that the (small “l”) liberal votes can split leading to a Conservative victory, even though more people voted for left-leaning parties. It used to be the reverse when we had more conservative-leaning parties.
In 2015, when we wanted to make sure that Harper did not get re-elected, there was a lot of strategic voting taking place. People voted for the party most likely to win in their riding instead of necessarily the person or party they identified most with.
There was a certain grace and integrity to the video. A brand of elegance and integrity that we haven’t seen in a while. It smells like Obama has been in the kitchen and I couldn’t be happier to see it.
With Sen. Sanders endorsement and now Pres. Obama’s too, I think we’re seeing the beginning of a very strong coalition, that will continue to build. For me, Biden represents that entire group of excellent candidates in our primary, and he also represents a very important return to positive, friendly and helpful relationships with our allies in the world.
Was Senator Warren’s endorsement forthcoming?
I am often put off by this website’s coverage of Sanders, so I am glad to see this acknowledgement. I understand why Americans are apprehensive of a self proclaimed Democratic Socialist, but I think Sanders presence has been successful at shifting the party left, which I personally am in favor of. Biden’s current platform is very different from his voting record, which was for heavy financial deregulation. His current plan for student debt is a complete reversal of the 2005 Bankruptcy Bill he supported. I am grateful for his pivot.
I don’t think this is even a little surprising, so I find the tone of this article weird. I think Bernie might have taken it to convention to make his point for progressive wing of party, and endorsed Biden there the way he did Hilary in 2016, which is fine (With me). But with the lockdown and the delayed convention that makes less and less sense. I’m a woman and a feminist and a Hillary supporter but I’m not going to pretend the only difference between April 2020 and April 2016 is that the lead candidate is a man.
#sorry #not sorry
We are at War literally and figuratively.
Time to put on our big people pants and stop dreaming of how things could have been and realize this is how things are.
Bottom-line cards on the table is that a vote for Biden is a vote against Trump.
Get Biden elected, get the dumpster trumpster out of the White House, and focus on who you do want in the White House in 2024.
We had this whole drama in 2016 and we got Trump — we have it again in 2020 and if we didn’t learn from the past we’ll have him again.
You are with us or against us.