'F**k This Guy': Ex-Bernie Supporters Slam US Lawmaker for Spouting ‘Neocon Propaganda’ About Russia
02:29 GMT 04.03.2023 (Updated: 17:06 GMT 20.04.2023)
© SETH HERALD
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Many said they regretted having given their time and money to Sanders’ presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020 after his aggressive statements.
Former supporters of US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) took to social media Friday to express their disgust after the former peace candidate expressed support for the Biden administration’s anti-Russian stance.
The outrage came in response to comments Sanders made in a recent BBC interview held amid his ongoing book tour.
When asked whether the US should “send F-16s” to the Ukrainian regime, Sanders replied: “It’s not an issue that I’ve been heavily involved in, but I support what the president is doing.”
“The United States” and NATO “cannot sit back and allow” what he called “Russia’s aggression” to go unanswered, he insisted.
Social media users were quick to call out the aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric by the supposed peace candidate.
”My spouse and I gave our time and money to support this man, and this is what he tells us now?” asked one. “Disgusting.”
“F*ck this guy,” added another, who couldn’t believe “I campaigned & organized a few hundred hours for this bastard that is joining Biden in the push toward nuclear war.”
“The most ‘progressive anti-war’ Democrat spouting neocon propaganda and protecting Biden and the neocon cabal as they push us towards WW3,” said a third, adding: “and you still think you can reform that party from within?”
The most "progressive anti-war" Democrat spouting neocon propaganda and protecting Biden and the neocon cabal as they push us towards WW3.
— joncutt (@joncutt) March 3, 2023
And you still think you can reform that party from within?
On Twitter, journalist Glenn Greenwood expressed incredulity at the statement, noting Sanders has become “one of America's most vocal and steadfast advocates for supporting Joe Biden's war policies in Ukraine.
“He voted to send $40 billion to Raytheon and CIA ‘for Ukraine,’ and when asked if the US should send F-16 *fighter jets*, he seems not just ready but eager to send much more,” Greenwald noted.
He argued Sanders’ comments show the senator “deceived millions” of Americans when he promised a “‘political revolution’ against the [Democrat] establishment.”
In 2016, Sanders excited and deceived millions by promising what he called a "political revolution" against the Demo establishment.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 3, 2023
Now, you wind him up and he says - even on the most consequential questions, like Ukraine - uh, I don't know much about it but I support Biden. https://t.co/6IzjO65Mu6
Sanders was once considered a leading anti-war figure in the United States. Opponents of American imperialism found much to appreciate in his criticisms of “endless war” and the military industrial complex, and he clearly and vocally opposed the unprovoked US invasion of Iraq months before it began in 2003.
At a time when few were willing to publicly oppose the US-backed overthrow of Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales, Sanders made waves by condemning the ouster as a “coup” on live television during the presidential debates in 2019.
Now, after two failed presidential bids, during which the Democratic Party openly manipulated the process to disadvantage him on multiple occasions, many former supporters now see Sanders as little more than a shadow of his former self.
However, it’s not just Ukraine, there are other areas where it seems Bernie has lost his mojo — or perhaps never had it at all. Last December, Sanders “abandoned his plan on Tuesday to introduce the resolution to end US involvement in ‘hostilities’ alongside the Saudi-led coalition,” a major US outlet noted.
