Bernie Sanders keeps telling us he is not a Democrat. Yes—this matters.
(a thread)
(a thread)
Bernie started his political career as a proud non-voter, bragging that he never voted until he voted until he was in his 30s—and that was a vote for himself. /1
He then was a professional candidate for 8 years, alternating failed campaigns for governor/senator—mostly running against democratic women—before settling for mayor of Burlington. /2
During much of that time, Bernie attacked Democrats, even going so far as to claim that JFK made him physically nauseous. Funny, he did not make similar complaints about Nixon. /3 buzzfeed.com/ilanbenmeir/be…
Bernie ran against a progressive woman governor and used many of the same arguments against her that he's repeated against Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren. /4 bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/0…
In his memoir, Bernie described his race against sexual assault victims rights activist Susan Sweetser. He said she was “too brassy, too bitchy, too loud-mouthed” and therefore unlikeable with women. /5
During his mayorship, Bernie developed a reputation for being temperamental and walking out on reporters' questions. /6 lansingcitypulse.com/article-12189-…
At age 40, Bernie became a delegate for the far left SWP—not merely a socialist organization but a communist league offshoot—and began developing an affinity for communist dictators like Castro. /7 thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/…
Bernie has not been vetted on his far history and none of his democratic opponents have attacked him on it but republicans are already preparing to do so. /8
But as far left as Bernie is on issues of class, he is shockingly far right on many other issues, particularly immigration and American detention of non-citizens. /9
Among his key breaks with Democrats, Bernie voted against immigration reform, against closing Guantanamo & to protect the Minutemen militia from prosecution. /10
Bernie’s vote to protect the Minutemen—a racist KKK offshoot group—had particularly bloody consequences. That group brutally murdered a little girl and her father near the border. /11
Further, in 2006, Bernie voted with the far right for a proto-Trumpian bill to indefinitely detain immigrants in border camps that the ACLU described as “inhumane.” Not too inhumane for Bernie Sanders. /12
You might think that after seeing the horror of Trump’s camps, Bernie would regret his vote. You would be wrong. Just last year, he promised the FOX News audience during a town hall that he would keep those internment camps open and build more and expedite deportation. /13
Similarly, Bernie has also voted with Republicans on gun control issues multiple times, earning himself a lifetime grade of D from the Brady Campaign. /14
Bernie’s excuse for his pro-NRA votes invoked racial bias, claiming guns are different in lily white Vermont vs. Chicago or LA. /15
Then there is Bernie’s troubling comments on LGBTQ issues. In 2006, Bernie *opposed* marriage equality in his home state of Vermont. Then he lied about it and claimed he didn't have to evolve. /16
In 2014, Bernie repeated what he has said many times in a Daily Journal interview: that he wanted to focus on class issues over racial, LGBTQ, and women's issues to appeal to conservative straight white men. /17
In 2016, Bernie’s campaign did just that, calling organizations like Planned Parenthood and HRC part of “the establishment that we are fighting against.” Then he failed to show up to vote against the GOP bill to defund Planned Parenthood. /18
Just this last year, Bernie was the *only* major presidential candidate to skip not one but both LGBTQ forums due to ambiguous “scheduling conflicts.” /19
So when Bernie repeatedly says he’s not a democrat and not a liberal and even registers as an independent while he is running on our democratic ticket—believe him. He has shown us exactly who he is. He does not share our liberal democratic values. /20
