Thread by @malinablue

1/ I know I’m going to bleed followers for this, but I have to put it out there before we get to the primaries & screw ourselves all over again. If you're a Bernie supporter, please read this with an open mind. Bernie is too risky.

2/ There are many DEMs, me included, who distrust him nearly as much as we distrust Trump. There are red flags:
1) Refusal so far to release taxes 2) Voting against Russian sanctions repeatedly 3) Trips to Russia
4) Weird coincidence his chief strategist worked for Manafort…

3/ …in Ukraine 5) How he stayed in the race weeks longer than normal, which helped to turn his supporters fatally against Hillary 6) Fact that Russian propaganda pushed a lot of the false Hillary stories that some Bernie supporters continue to believe.

4/ Here’s the thing - it’s highly unlikely Putin planned this coup for as long as he did & invested as many rubles as he did & put all his eggs in one orange basket.

5/ There are signs he had more than one GOP candidate (Cruz was also sharing polling data with Russians DURING THE MIDTERMS & many of Trump’s people started out on Cruz campaign). It’s more than likely Jill Stein was running to siphon votes from Hillary at Putin’s request.

6/ It’s entirely possible Putin had a DEM candidate, too, and if so - it would be Bernie. I’m not saying I believe 100% he’s part of this, but there are some worrisome indicators. At this point, with democracy on the line, many of us simply aren’t willing to take the chance.

7/ Bernie is divisive and he KNOWS he’s divisive. If he truly cared about this country, he wouldn’t run. Ask yourself why he is. Many of us are willing to vote for ANY DEM candidate, but NOT Bernie or Tulsi Gabbard because we simply don’t trust them.

8/ So if you vote for Bernie in the primaries, you’re setting us up to divide & fall again. THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE TO SAVE DEMOCRACY. Plus, I have to say, I’ll never understand Bernie’s appeal.

9/ Yes, he pushes some progressive talking points, which I support, but big talkers aren’t always do-ers. Trump is a big talker. Bernie is a demagogue like Trump. He’s been in government for decades, but what has he actually DONE?

10/ He’s done practically nothing - his only bills were to name a few post offices. He’s voted pro-NRA multiple times. I trust actions, not words. Bernie has no actions to back his rousing speeches.

11/ This is what a demagogue is, folks - they’re charismatic speakers who rouse the crowd into emotional frenzies, but they're not to be trusted.

12/ We have so many good DEM candidates out there, including many progressive ones. Why would we risk everything to vote for the most divisive one? THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE TO SAVE DEMOCRACY. The stakes are simply too high.

Vote for a candidate who won't divide us.

13/ We need to motivate EVERY DEM to get out there in 2020. It's absolutely critical. How many will be de-motivated if we choose as our nominee a candidate that so many distrust intensely? It's suicide for America because this is our LAST CHANCE.

14/ Even if you think those who distrust Bernie are bonkers, are you willing to risk choosing him if it will cause us all to divide & fall AGAIN? I mean it's the same damn mistake we made last time. Russia's tactic was to divide us - they poisoned the well & it remains poisoned.

15/ Please dear god, let's choose a candidate who will unite us to save democracy from GOP's authoritarian state. It's IMPOSSIBLE for Bernie to be that candidate when there's no neutral ground for him - you either love him or hate him. Too many DEMs hate him & stakes are too high