Sen. Bernie Sanders got himself a heap of backlash. In an interview with The Daily Beast in which he was referencing Andrew Gillum in Florida and Stacey Abrams in Georgia, Sanders said, “I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American.”
Now he is trying to explain himself.
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NPR reports, “Sanders’ spokesman insists those remarks were taken out of context.” Sanders also told NPR, “Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum ran brilliant campaigns. Created enormous excitement at the grassroots level, and were running in states that are tough states for Democrats.” He also said, “There’s no question that in Georgia and in Florida racism has reared its ugly head. And you have candidates who ran against Gillum and ran against Stacey Abrams who were racist and were doing everything they could to try to play whites against blacks. And that is an outrage, and we have got to continue doing everything that we can to fight all forms of racism.”
Nonetheless, Twitter was not feeling Sanders’ comments. See the reactions below:
1.
WTF? Andrew Gillum is not the first black person on a ballot! How about, Barack Obama?!?https://t.co/pB4bURf5mZ
— Joe Madison (@MadisonSiriusXM) November 9, 2018
2.
Bernie Sanders on his way to sympathize racists pic.twitter.com/szGqEcguPG
— M Cullen (@FrozenHearted) November 8, 2018
3.
People who were uncomfortable voting for a Black candidate weren’t just tricked into being racist due to the racist ads. If you really want to fight all forms of racism, @SenSanders, that includes the kind where you go along with the racist system. Not all racism is blatant. https://t.co/6Uro11ZMuf
— Kira Banks (@kirabanks) November 9, 2018
4.
Bernie Sanders is truly, literally, terribly exhausting.
— Preston Mitchum (@PrestonMitchum) November 8, 2018
5.
6.
This is 100% racism.
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 8, 2018
“I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there *who are not necessarily racist* who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American,” Sanders said. https://t.co/LECC7pBMKS
7.
The problem with this apology is that Bernie Sanders *can* admit Trump ran a racist campaign.
— Amene (@Ange_Amene) November 8, 2018
What he can't admit is that Trump voters *are* racist.
He makes excuses, instead of acknowledging them.
That is a major blindspot for him and the people who excuse him. https://t.co/0vsaFH9jUO
8.
I realize @SenSanders may have been trying to avoid calling white voters unwilling to vote for a black person racist, perhaps for his own reasons. But rather than worrying about whether they are racist, call what they are doing racist. It isn’t difficult. https://t.co/486YioadMT
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) November 8, 2018
9. Even Donna Brazile Sounded Off…
Lord, why now?
— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) November 8, 2018
Bernie Sanders Says Not All Voters Who Feel 'Uncomfortable' With Black Candidates Are Racist.... https://t.co/p0qVGOth8r
10.
.@BernieSanders says some people aren’t “necessarily racist” but were “uncomfortable” voting for people because they were black. Many would define not supporting someone based solely on race as racist. https://t.co/lxbmIha8pF
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 8, 2018