Bernie Sanders' Supporters Are Reacting to His Clinton Endorsement With These Memes
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Shortly after Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, droves of Sanders supporters flocked to the "Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash" Facebook group to share their reactions to the announcement.
Members of the group quickly turned on the Vermont senator and denounced him as a sellout.
Facebook/Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - facebook.com
Sanders' platform, which focused on issues such as campaign finance reform, income inequality, student debt, and a path to marijuana legalization, drew a large swell of support from young voters. Clinton and the Democratic Party have embraced many of Sanders' progressive positions, and Clinton even announced a plan for free college tuition last week.
"There was a significant coming together between the two campaigns and we produced, by far, the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party," Sanders said at the event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he made the announcement.
But his call for unity isn't going over well with everyone.
A quick scroll through the "Dank Meme Stash" reveals the anti-Clinton sentiment is alive and well among Sanders fans, many of whom feel deeply betrayed by the endorsement.
Facebook/Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - facebook.com
Facebook/Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - facebook.com
Members of the group were particularly peeved by the Vermont senator's claims that Clinton was dedicated to fighting income inequality and "the 1 percent."
"Hillary Clinton understands that we must fix an economy in America that is rigged and that sends almost all new wealth and income to the top 1 percent," Sanders said.
For the #BernieOrBust contingent, Clinton has come to represent the same 1 percent of "millionaires and billionaires" Sanders has railed against throughout his primary campaign.
Facebook/Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - facebook.com
Others voiced frustration about donating time and money to a political revolution they believed ended with Tuesday's endorsement.
Facebook/Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - facebook.com
Facebook/Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - facebook.com
Sanders admitted that while he and Clinton disagreed on certain issues, he would proudly vote for her in November.
"This election is about which candidate will nominate Supreme Court justices who are prepared to overturn the disastrous Citizens United decision which allows billionaires to buy elections and undermine our democracy; about who will appoint new justices on the Supreme Court who will defend a woman’s right to choose, the rights of the LGBT community, workers’ rights, the needs of minorities and immigrants, and the government’s ability to protect the environment," he explained.
The same can't be said of all of his supporters, as is made evident in a meme of a flaming middle finger — presumably referencing Sanders' "Feel the Bern" campaign slogan.
Facebook/Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - facebook.com
Still, amid countless anti-Clinton and anti-Sanders memes, and even talk of backing Green Party candidate Jill Stein, a few members of the group objected to the vitriol.
Facebook/Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - facebook.com
Facebook/Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - facebook.com
Whether or not these meme-happy Sanders fans will change their tune is yet to be seen, but a May 2016 Washington Post-ABC News poll revealed that 71 percent of Sanders supporters said they would back Clinton over Donald Trump — more than the amount of Clinton primary voters (64 percent) who said they would vote for President Barack Obama at the same time in the 2008 presidential election.
