In the days before the California primary, polls indicated two-point gap between Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. On Monday, the Associated Press announced that Clinton was the presumptive Democratic nominee. On Tuesday, Clinton beat Sanders by a whopping 13 points in the California primary.

“Several AP reporters have already been attacked verbally by irate Sanders supporters.”

So either the polls were horribly wrong — although they’ve been fairly accurate all campaign — or the AP’s sudden announcement that the voters in six states didn’t matter caused the bigger-than-expected win for Clinton. Some believe the latter and are suitably outraged.

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“Shame on @AP and @MSNBC. Stop trying to suppress votes with your premature proclamations. #FeelTheBern,” tweeted former NAACP president and Bernie supporter Ben Jealous. One tweet late on primary night said “The crowd was also chanting ‘Media is corrupt!’ Californians don’t like their democracy subverted.”

An “OccupyAP” hashtag has even materialized. “#OccupyAP: It’s time to take a stand against the media giants that subvert our democracy!” tweeted one Sanders supporter.

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AP, however, is defending its decision to award Clinton “presumptive nominee” status. “AP concluded that Hillary Clinton had enough delegates to clinch the nomination after a painstaking but very straightforward exercise. We counted,” the news organization said in a statement released Monday.

[lz_table title=”California Polling” source=”RealClear Politics”]CBS News 5/31-6/3

Clinton,49%

Sanders,47%

|NBC/Wall St Journal 5/29-5/31

Clinton,49%

Sanders,47%

|Field 5/26-5/31

Clinton,45%

Sanders,43%

[/lz_table]

“By Monday evening, 571 superdelegates had told us unequivocally that they intend to vote for Clinton at the convention. Adding that number to the delegates awarded to Clinton in primary and caucus voting to date gave her the number needed to be the presumptive nominee. That is news, and reporting the news is what we do,” it said.

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“Nothing in that discourages or prevents voters in six states from exercising their right to go to the polls today and cast their ballots.”

Sanders supporters, however, disagree — and they have a point. Reading that one candidate has effectively clinched the nomination — on one of the most respected news sources no less — is surely enough to make supporters of another candidate think twice about voting. Although the count is still preliminary, turnout in California was lower than 2008.

“If you are portrayed as not having much of a chance to win, studies show voters tend to pick up on that and echo the opinions of journalists that certain candidates are not worth working for, following, and voting for,” George Mason University communications professor Bob Lichter said in an interview with Vox.

[lz_graphiq id=6ibIJlw9cUd]

The Democrats are racing to gather 2,383 delegates. After Tuesday last wave of primaries, Clinton has 2,196 delegates and Sanders 1,866 — meaning neither got to the magic number. But awarded Clinton some of the 572 superdelegates to push her over the top — just a day before the six states voted.

Noting that superdelegates don’t truly commit until the convention — despite what they may tell AP reporters — Sanders supporters argue that a strong performance by Bernie in California and New Jersey could have resulted in enough superdelegates changing their minds at the convention, and that AP’s announcement was a tactical decision designed to prevent such an outcome.

It’s not difficult to understand why. From the outset, before a single primary ballot had been cast, the mainstream media and Democratic Establishment treated Clinton’s nomination as inevitable. Even the debate schedule and primary dates seemed concocted specifically to provide Clinton an advantage.

To Sanders’ sea of ardent supporters, AP’s announcement appeared as just one more attempt by “The Man” to prevent the progressive renegade from taking the nomination. Sanders supporters are so upset, in fact, that AP warned its reporters to be wary of them — several have already been attacked verbally by irate Sanders supporters.

“Some AP staff have received angry communications in the form of emails, social media messages and phone calls. We have not received any specific security threats,” wrote Danny Spriggs, the AP’s vice president for global security, in a company-wide email.

“It is always good to practice situational awareness around AP bureaus and offices.”