US media has often been accused of playing down the popularity of Bernie Sanders – but one reporter took that to the extreme, tweeting that traffic jams at one of his packed-out rallies were “not a good look” for the candidate.

Politico reporter Carla Marinucci made the bizarre criticism after a Sanders campaign event in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday night.

The journalist complained that traffic trying to leave the rally “has been at a complete cold stop” for thirty minutes. “Not a good look” for the City of Richmond “or Bernie Sanders for that matter,” her tweet concluded. She even included a picture of the backed-up traffic jams as visual evidence of the scandalous situation.

It’s unclear what exactly Marinucci meant by the gridlock not being a “good look” for the Democratic frontrunner – or why drawing huge crowds could somehow reflect poorly on him – but his supporters on social media had a field day with the comments.

“Very bad look for Bernie Sanders,” one wrote. “He simply has too many supporters.”

“Is he supposed to get out there and play traffic cop?” another asked.

Hey @BernieSanders please apologize for traffic and end it permanently thanks — KloboCop 🌹🐬🦑 اشتهارد (@BadSunAK) February 18, 2020

We'll never rest until Senator Sanders answers for this monstrous injustice — Big Boy Bib (@langsamlourd) February 18, 2020

Some joked that traffic jams were the final straw with their support for Sanders.

“I got stuck in traffic so I actually don’t want healthcare now,” one said.

There was widespread confusion about Marinucci's failure to grasp how big, crowd-drawing events tend to work – and that some inconvenient traffic is usually par for the course.

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One tweeter hoped that the journalist never moved from politics to music reviews, which could potentially produce similar head-scratching tweets: “I saw the Rolling Stones last week, a lot of traffic leaving the venue...not a good look!”

One tweeter simply called it “the most desperate spin on voter enthusiasm to date,” while another had some advice for the Politico journalist: “You might want to run your tweets by a smart person before you post them.”

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