Obviously I’ve expanded the definition of “southern” beyond the deep South, since that’s usually the context in which Sanders and his supporters use the word—anything south of the Mason-Dixon line. But regardless where you draw the boundaries, fact is that the people who voted in those primaries are some of our core, most important constituencies.

When Sanders partisans first began dismissing those states, one could argue that they did so out of ignorance, not understanding that it wasn’t conservatives voting in those primaries, but some of our most liberal, most committed constituencies—Latinos and African Americans. But this far into the primary season, it’s not so easy anymore to explain away those bullshit claims after repeated efforts to correct the record. And of course, this isn’t coming from a random supporter on the internet, or even his campaign team. It’s coming from Bernie Sanders himself.

So let me ask this as explicitly as I can: how does a bunch of African American and Latinos voting “distort reality”? Demographically, America isn’t Vermont. This primary battle is being waged in the reality that is modern-day America. So exactly how did those black and Latino voters “distort reality”?

Now, there are plenty of ways Sanders could talk about his demographic challenges without coming across as a dick. He could talk about how he started off poorly with those groups, but he’s made inroads over time (debatable, but whatever). He could pivot to how much better he did among youth and independents, and talk about his accomplishments, rather than diminish those who aren’t already with him.

Despite his Southern struggles, Sanders insisted to Wilmore that he can win the Democratic nomination, despite lagging by more than 200 pledged delegates. “Our path is with the math,” the Vermont senator said. “We started off this campaign having to run in the Deep South—” [...] The senator added that he has a stronger chance to win in more progressive states and convert superdelegates—who are not tied to the popular vote in primary states—to support his candidacy.

“The math” ended this contest on March 15, we’re just going through the motions of a contested primary because Sanders has the money to drag it out. No problem! Keep things going! But don’t pretend the math is anything but prohibitive, or that New York primary voters are more “progressive” than Alabama’s black primary electorate, or that superdelegates are going to overturn the will of the Democratic electorate to chose the guy who has spent the entire election cycle shitting (however deservedly) on the Democratic establishment, aka, the superdelegates.

I previously wrote that Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver was delusional, then noted the same about his top adviser Tad Devnie. But I guess this goes all the way to the top.

Now, if you want to talk about primary features that distort reality, let’s look at low-turnout, no-secret-ballot caucuses. Or Democratic primaries and caucuses which allow non-Democrats to meddle in our own internal business. Let’s look at how unrepresentative Iowa and New Hampshire got to filter the candidate field before the vast majority of people had a say in the matter, or how difficult it is for people to vote in certain places.

But blasting the part of the system that gave a strong and early voice to black and Latino voters isn’t a problem. In fact, we need more of that.