"They're cowering for no reason."

That was how Jacobin magazinepublisher and editor Bhaskar Sunkara responded Tuesday night to The Baffler magazine's decision to fully retract and remove from its website an op-ed by Brooklyn-based writer Amber A'Lee Frost, who argued that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the best possible candidate to defeat President Donald Trump in 2020 and advance a truly progressive agenda.

"Not only is he the best candidate politically (as in, the only social democrat), he has the best chance of giving the 'pragmatists' what say they want: a presidential win."

—Amber A'Lee Frost

Because The Baffler, which focuses on left-wing politics and culture, is owned by The Baffler Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, it is legally prohibited from endorsing any candidate for public office. But Sunkara—whose magazine is also owned by a 501(c)3—argued that because the piece did not reflect the "views of an institute," it was "clearly within bounds."

So, late Tuesday, Jacobin decided to repost the article on its website (read Frost's full piece below). Initially headlined "It's Bernie, Bitch" by The Baffler—a spin on a phrase by American singer Britney Spears—Jacobin ran the op-ed with the title, "It's Still Bernie."

"A President Sanders isn't some idealist fantasy, he is our best bet by a mile," Frost argued in her piece. "Not only is he the best candidate politically (as in, the only social democrat), he has the best chance of giving the 'pragmatists' what say they want: a presidential win."

The Baffler's decision to completely remove Frost's piece from it's website nearly two weeks after it was first published prompted some speculation that the magazine faced legal threats for purportedly violating the prohibition against endorsing a candidate for office—despite the fact that, as some pointed out, Sanders has not officially announced a presidential bid.

In a statement posted in the place of Frost's removed piece, The Baffler explained its decision:

Editor's Note: We have removed the January 11, 2019, column by Amber Frost from our website after determining that it does not meet The Baffler's guidelines for coverage and commentary concerning political candidates. The essay is an expression of Ms. Frost's personal views. While The Baffler supports a robust discussion about political issues and candidates, as a nonprofit organization it does not support or oppose any individual candidate or potential candidate for political office. We are sorry for any inconvenience to our readers. We appreciate Ms. Frost's other contributions to The Baffler, which you can find here.

In a series of tweets late Tuesday, Peter Gowan—a policy associate at the Next System Project—called The Baffler's decision to remove Frost's piece "extremely concerning."

"Of course as a c3 they cannot organizationally endorse, but Amber was a contributor, not their board," Gowan noted. "We should be clear—legal threats or concerns have prevented political speech by supporters of a socialist presidential candidate in a significant left publication. It's very worrying and could have chilling effects across the sector if not opposed and resisted."

Below is the full text of Frost's op-ed as posted on Jacobin:

I don’t really give a damn who it is. Warren, or Kamala Harris, or Sherrod Brown, or whoever. Pick one and get behind them from the very beginning. Any solid top-tier true left-wing candidate should, barring a serious fuck-up, be able to win the Democratic nomination if Bernie Sanders hands them all of his supporters on a platter.

I hate to break it to you, HamNo, but the voters actually do give a damn who it is, as evidenced by the fact that Bernie was previously unable to hand Hillary “all of his supporters on a platter.” They didn’t want Hillary, or really any neoliberal. And why should they? Barack Obama was the very last “horoscope candidate” — a politician who manages to speak so vaguely that his platform could mean anything to anyone. It’s not going to work this time around; the Democratic Party is not going to be able trick people into believing that Liz Warren is a social democrat. Ditto for Kamala “Cop” Harris, a woman whose duplicitous record as a prosecutor includes the defense of the death penalty, three strikes laws, and the imprisonment of single mothers for the truancy of their children. You really think you can convince anyone that Kamala Harris is a woman of the people? Sherrod Brown has gone all in with Russiagate hysteria (also he signs his tweets). And before you even think of it, don’t even bother with Beto, who is to the right of all of the aforementioned, and votes to the right of the median Democrat. His district is majority Democratic, so he could plausibly vote to storm the Winter Palace and still keep his seat, but he joined the New Democrat Caucus in order to advance business interests. You can’t just astroturf any shitty neoliberal hack into the hearts and minds of the Bernie voter; if you could, we’d have President Hillary right now. The coming election cycle will be an extremely difficult and fraught one. The Democrats might not be able win with any candidate; even the worst presidents seem all to serve for two terms now, and frankly, a lot of people have very little faith in electoral change. And despite all the #resistance hysteria, for the time being, the majority of the electorate haven’t seen the sort of plummet in quality of life that inspires droves of voters to cast a ballot for Anyone But Trump. The Donald hasn’t actually deviated that much from the neoliberal trajectory of his predecessors (remember, Obama shot tear gas at the border too), and you can’t expect people who don’t spend all day on Twitter to feel that motivated to combat what is essentially the gradual continuation of previous administrations. (Hell, he’s already more anti-war than Obama.) And even if we could get a President Gillibrand in 2020, another lukewarm Democratic presidency will not only further impoverish and destabilize the working class and its suffering institutions; it will also all but guarantee that 2024 brings us POTUS Hamburglar in an SS uniform. No, HamNo, it’s Bernie or bust. I don’t care if we have to roll him out on a hand truck and sprinkle cocaine into his coleslaw before every speech. If he dies mid-run, we’ll stuff him full of sawdust, shove a hand up his ass and operate him like a goddamn muppet.