Bernie Sanders is inspiring rip-roaring memes across the internet as folks wonder whether he can possibly catch up to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race. The contest will likely be decided by the superdelegates, and the Bern has been slowly plucking them up, especially after his primary victories in Alaska, Washington, and Hawaii. As a result, Sanders would love to once again meet his rival onstage and score some points before the New York primaries. His team asked Clinton’s camp for an April 19 debate, but she’s not keen to launch dueling podiums once more.

Why doesn’t Hillary want to debate in her home state? There’s the possibility that Clinton could perform as awkwardly as she did in Flint, which may have caused Michigan voters to hand the state to Sanders. Clinton could easily take New York based upon her eight years as senator, but then again, she’s also got that track record working against her with some voters. Clinton’s people have accused Sanders of campaigning like a Brooklynite, and things got uglier with Clinton Chief Strategist Joel Benenson speaking to CNN. According to Benenson, Clinton will only consider a New York debate if Sanders modifies his allegedly harsh “tone”:



“There’s no risk. [Clinton’s] done very well in the debates. The debates have been very good, but Sen. Sanders doesn’t get to decide when we debate, particularly when he’s running a very negative campaign against us. Let’s see if he goes back to the kind of tone he said he was going to set early on. If he does that, then we’ll talk about debates … I said we’re going to see what kind of tone he sets.”

Naturally, Clinton’s team could be referring to negative ads, though those are almost a given in any presidential campaign. A more implicit demand asks Sanders to think twice before “shushing” Clinton again during a debate. However, one wonders how things would work if these roles were switched. If Sanders asked Clinton to modify her “tone,” this would not go over well, and no doves of peace would be found.

The internet felt amused by the demand for Sanders to watch his tone, so the #ToneDownForWhat hashtag was born.

The only one who should be changing their tone is the candidate that is tone deaf to voters. Debates are good for democracy #ToneDownForWhat — Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) March 29, 2016

So tonight I was told that the war in Iraq was Susan Sarandons fault

Maybe she should tone it down #ToneDownForWhat pic.twitter.com/BWVxD6L0vT — Malynda (@MalyndaNyc) March 29, 2016

The son of working immigrants who literally spent his life fighting for social & economic justice #ToneDownForWhat pic.twitter.com/tx43cKjawb — AAPI4Bernie (@AAPI4_Bernie) March 29, 2016

"Tone it down" neatly sums up everything wrong with #HRC campaign: arrogance, condescension and sense of entitlement. #ToneDownForWhat — Kurt Hackbarth (@KurtHackbarth) March 29, 2016

Looks like peon mayor @BernieSanders didn't know his place in the 80's either. Lookit this "tone"! #ToneDownForWhat pic.twitter.com/exCTZhve1H — Julia Gumm (@jujubee_84) March 29, 2016

How about @HillaryClinton's tone when she shrugged about her paid speeches? #ToneDownForWhat pic.twitter.com/sUW6mxxSL3 — Europe For Sanders (@Europe4Sanders) March 29, 2016

"Let them eat cake" while I charge $353K for the HONOR of dinner with me. #ToneDownForWhat https://t.co/wt1xT3DUbZ — Erika Awakening (@ErikaAwakening) March 29, 2016

.@BernieSanders is the only candidate to call out #VoterSuppression & you tell him to tone it down? #ToneDownForWhat pic.twitter.com/ENnFuA9FeY — Europe For Sanders (@Europe4Sanders) March 29, 2016