UPDATE: A Sanders supporter has admitted to faking the video of Bernie Sanders arriving on stage in California earlier this week to a homophobic rap song about killing gay and trans people.

The Sanders supporter claims he made the fake video in order to intentionally trick voters as a form of “social experiment.” He issued a statement, which concluded “Congratulations, you played yourself.”

No, congratulations to you, young man. You just ticked off thousands of people online with a story that seriously hurt your candidate, and is now going to be very difficult to put back in the bottle.

Here’s more from the Sanders supporter:

“So long story short, this was a social experiment, and everyone seem to fall for it. Im a Bernie supporter but one of the main things that I set to prove is the medias ability to rewrite headlines and make everything seem twisted. The video was a joke at first, I imagined a 70 year old man walking out to a song that has a hard intro (subtract the homophobic lyrics, which is why it isn’t in the video) but as i thought about it, i knew everyone would go nuts, i just want to give a major shout out to boy culture for keeping a level head about the situation. The video was faked, if you’re going to support a candidate dont do it cause of a viral video, and if it sparks you’re interest, let the flame burn a lot longer than just voting and walking away, we as american citizens have more power than we think, and to all those people thinking they got a 1up on Bernie….I say this…”

UPDATE: 6:25pm ET… Here’s another video, posted by the Sanders campaign, in which you can’t really happen any music at all. Maybe something in the background, but hard to tell what.

UPDATE: 3:46pm ET… The plot thickens. There is now a second video, published two days ago, before the controversy over this began, that shows the same DMX song playing at the Sanders rally, from a different vantage point. The audio certainly sounds real.

The Sanders campaign is claiming that these videos are fake, and the Washington Blade has postulated that the videos were faked in order to hurt Sanders — but that doesn’t explain why the videos were published two days ago with no reference at all to the homophobic lyrics? It’s an ineffective way to try to hurt someone, publishing damaging information and then hiding it.

The Sanders campaign told the Blade that they think the first video was doctored. And it may have been — the music does sound almost too clear on the first video. But on the second video, below, it’s one heck of a fake if it’s a fake. Also, the Sanders campaign knows what music they play at these rallies when the candidate comes on stage. It’s odd that the campaign didn’t simply tell the Blade reporter what song was played. After all, it’s possible DMX did play (the version below), and that someone dubbed a better quality version of the sub over it (the other version further down below). That would meet the merits of “it was dubbed,” but it wouldn’t deny the fact that DMX was used by the campaign.

So was it or wasn’t it?

Here’s the newest video, with DMX playing. Again, why was it published two days ago, before the controversy began, and why didn’t the YouTube description mention the homophobic lyrics if this was published to hurt Sanders? It just doesn’t add up.

And what’s more interesting — it’s Team Sanders that appears to be dubbing music over its own videos. Check out this video below of Sanders in California on May 26, one day after the DMX video. The music is clearly dubbed — you can hear the real music start, then the fake music goes over it, and the campaign mistakenly kept the fake music playing after Sanders started talking, then it abruptly shut off.

The same thing happens in this video from Santa Monica — again, a different real song starts to play, and for some reason it’s dubbed with something else. You can even hear the real second in the background:

UPDATE: This story gets weirder and weirder. A journalist friend pointed out to me that he found some video from the Sanders campaign (via ABC), from the same event, that uses different music than the DMX song. I’m including that video below.

But things get even stranger than that. There’s live Fox News video of the same event that includes no music whatsoever. (The Fox tape goes mute at one point, but when it’s not muted there should be music, like there is on the Sanders campaign tape, and there isn’t.)

So there are three different videos of the “same” event. Now, is it possible these are different events in California on the same day, using the same actors and the same backdrop? Yes. But still, this is very strange.

Sanders/ABC version of the event:

And here’s the live coverage from Fox that includes no music at all:

______

ORIGINAL STORY: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders this week played a song at one of his California rallies that mocks transgender people and calls for gays to be shot.

Politico, BET, the Root, Billboard others reported that Sanders entered the rally in Lancaster, California on May 25, playing the song “Where the hood at?” by rapper DMX.

The song includes the following homophobic lyrics, among others:

“I show no love, to homo thugs. Empty out, reloaded and throw more slugs. How you gonna explain f*ckin a man?”

How you gonna explain it, indeed.

The song is apparently anti-trans as well:

Even if we squashed the beef, I ain’t touchin ya hand

I don’t buck with chumps, for those to been to jail

That’s the cat with the Kool-Aid on his lips and pumps

I don’t f*ck with niggaz that think they broads

As UPROXX notes, the music played at rallies is not some random thing:

To further gather the troops, Sanders held a Thursday night rally in Lancaster. His fiery speech — which argued for legalization of marijuana and against low Disneyland wages in the face of enormous corporate profits — drew plenty of attention. Yet nothing is making headlines like Sanders’ entrance song, DMX’s “Where the Hood At?” And make no mistake, rally music is a highly planned endeavor.

But what is sure to make more waves is the fact that Bernie Sanders’ newest favorite song is an ode to shooting gay men, or at the song calls them, “homos.”

Man, cats don’t know what it’s gonna be

F*ckin with a nigga like me, D-to-the-M-to-the-X

Last I heard, y’all niggaz was havin sex, with the SAME sex

I show no love, to homo thugs

Empty out, reloaded and throw more slugs

How you gonna explain f*ckin a man?

Even if we squashed the beef, I ain’t touchin ya hand

I don’t buck with chumps, for those to been to jail

That’s the cat with the Kool-Aid on his lips and pumps

I don’t f*ck with niggaz that think they broads

Only know how to be ONE WAY, that’s the dog

I know how to get down, know how to BITE

Bark very little, but I know HOW TO FIGHT

I know how to chase a cat up in the tree

MAN, I GIVE Y’ALL NIGGAZ THE B’INESS FOR F*CKIN WIT ME, IS YOU CRAZY?!?

Here’s a video of Sanders’ entrance. I have a copy of it, in case it gets pulled. Interestingly, you’ll see Sanders come on stage right when the music turns to “niggaz” having sex “with the SAME sex.”

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