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Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders directed his appeal to opposition to social inequality and war, presenting himself as the voice of opposition to Wall Street, the military-industrial complex, the giant corporations and the political establishment, Republican and Democratic. Sanders is not much of a socialist and his reform proposals would fit comfortably within the mainstream of bourgeois politics 50 years ago.

US officials have told Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders that Russia is trying to help his campaign, the Washington Post reported on 21 February 2020. Donald Trump and US lawmakers were also informed of the Russian assistance to Senator Sanders, said the Post, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter. The form that the Russian assistance had taken was not clear, the paper added.

Sanders, the Vermont senator, slammed the Russian president after news of the interference emerged, branding Vladimir Putin an ‘autocratic thug’ and a ‘good friend’ of Trump. ‘I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president,’ Sanders said. ‘My message to Putin is clear: stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do.’ He said that he was briefed about a month ago on the Russian interference.

In its piece, citing unidentified sources “familiar with the matter,” WaPo said that Sanders had been briefed by US intelligence about an alleged Russian meddling effort. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Sanders said that he didn’t care who Moscow allegedly “wants to be president,” saying his “message” to Russian President Vladimir Putin was “clear: stay out of American elections.” The New York Times issued a conflicting report Thursday ‘citing intelligence officials’ claiming that Russia’s meddling was actually aimed at helping to get President Trump reelected.

“Let me say something else about this - not being too paranoid. All of us remember 2016, and what we remember is efforts by Russians and others to try to interfere in our elections and divide us up. I’m not saying that’s happening, but it would not shock me,” Sanders said.

Moscow denied those allegations, calling the NYT piece “another paranoid report” which it expects to see more of as November approaches. Trump National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said he hadn't seen "any intelligence" that Russia was "doing anything to get President Trump reelected," suggesting that the report was "the same old story that we've heard before."

Russian support for Sanders could be part of a wider plot to help Trump. Sanders may be considered by Putin to be less likely to beat Trump in the November election than other more moderate Democratic nominees. Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville absolutely exploded during an appearance on MSNBC Saturday night. , calling Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT). “I don’t think Sanders wants Putin to help,” Carville continued, reassuring MSNBC hosts that he didn’t believe the Vermont socialist was in direct communication with the Kremlin, the way many Democrats suspected the Trump campaign was.

Twitter was swift to respond to allegations that its platform had been a medium for a foreign interference campaign, saying in a Thursday statement to CNBC that it had no evidence to back Sanders’ suggestion. “Using technology and human review in concert, we proactively monitor Twitter to identify attempts at platform manipulation and mitigate them,” the company said. “As is standard, if we have reasonable evidence of state-backed information operations, we’ll disclose them.”

Likewise, Facebook told CNBC earlier this week that it had no evidence of Russians being associated with supporters of Sanders’ campaign. However, following the publication of the Washington Post’s article, Facebook declined to comment on a Reuters request on the matter, backing away from an earlier response to the news service stating it had not seen evidence of such assistance.

In an article titled “Bernie Sanders and His Internet Army,” the New York Times portrayed Sanders’ online supporters as violent and sexist “Bernie Bros.” The article was virtually devoid of facts, relying instead on Clinton and Obama surrogates in addition to rival campaign advisors for salacious quotes in which Sanders was made responsible for fostering a “toxic culture” in his campaign. The article noted that Sanders had 10 million followers on Twitter--more than Warren, Biden, Buttigieg and Klobachar combined. It added ominously and without substantiation, “A sizable number could be automated bots or fictitious accounts. Federal prosecutors have detailed coordinated efforts by Russian nationals to interfere in the 2020 elections, with an emphasis on two candidates—Donald J. Trump and Mr. Sanders—whom the Russians hope to bolster while denigrating their opponents.” The Washington Post wrote that the distribution of images and posts critical of Warren by Sanders used “a popular new mass-posting technique that allows ordinary Americans to operate with rapid-fire speed reminiscent of Russian bots or trolls in 2016.”

New York Times political contributor Lisa Lerer pulled out all the stops attacking Vermont senator and self-described democratic socialist Bernie Sanders. In a piece seemingly designed to recall all the things related to Sanders that moderate Democrats may find cringe-worthy, Lerer recalled his support for the socialist Sandinista movement in the 80s as US-sponsored contras attempted to overthrow Nicaragua’s government, “his honeymoon in the Soviet Union,” and the obscure ‘rape fantasy’ essay on gender roles he wrote in 1972.