Because establishment liberals do not understand the current war taking place inside the Democratic Party (I should know, I was one who hopped on the deficit scold train in 2016, saying that Bernie was unrealistic), sometimes some glorious unintentional comedy emerges. This is one of those times.

I supported Hillary in 2016 because of her “realistic” platform that more aligned with my stated beliefs, despite agreeing with every single systemic criticism out of Bernie’s mouth. My centrist politics (that upon serious examination I realized I did not believe) did not stop me from liking Bernie, and the fact that Sanders was only running as a Democrat because he wanted to win and not play third-party spoiler was even more appealing to me.

You say “but he’s not a Democrat!” and I respond “I know, that’s why I like him.”

In fact, odds are very good that anyone who describes themselves as a liberal likes Sanders, as the latest Gallup polling pegs his favorable rating amongst Dems at 78% versus just 14% unfavorable.

But that hasn’t stopped the extremely online Hillarystans who are still desperately relitigating 2016 from attempting to warp reality, and this thread emerged yesterday as one of the most hilariously inept “gotcha” attempts I have ever seen. Socialists will especially love this.

Interesting how this video of Bernie Sanders declaring himself a Socialist during his race for governor of VT in 1986 didn't surface in 2016.



"I’m outraged about the system we are living in…I want to see a radical redistribution of wealth and power in this country." Ok, then. pic.twitter.com/QEV3g5Nxi6 — m. mendoza ferrer (@mgranville1) January 30, 2019

Indeed, how interesting that this self-described Democratic Socialist who wasn't a Democrat until 2016 had a video from 1986 suppressed where he called himself a socialist! What a scandal! The MSM is in the tank for Bernie and going after Dear Leader Hillary yet again!

There is so, so much more unintentional comedy here, folks.

And, how did no one in the DNC in 2016 not listen to the dozens and dozens of video of Bernie Sanders stating for decades that Democrats and Republicans are ALL THE SAME and then let him run as a DEMOCRAT???



Bernie Sanders DOESN'T CARE if he "splits the left." pic.twitter.com/eKq3kNPaxB — m. mendoza ferrer (@mgranville1) January 30, 2019

“We think that the Democratic and Republican Parties are essentially alike.”

Given that the story of the last forty years of the Democratic Party is moving to the right of where the party was in the 1960s and 1930s, I don't think that's that radical a statement, and again, it makes me like Bernie more.

This one is the coup de grace of missing the point.

Bernie Sanders talking to Middle School students about stereotypes in Burlington, VT in 1987:



“When I was a young person what we learned is that black people smelled. They had a special odor. Ok? That's what went around that black people smelled and they were pretty stupid.” pic.twitter.com/dW1m94YbZt — m. mendoza ferrer (@mgranville1) January 30, 2019

This is a minute and fifty-eight seconds of Bernie telling children how racism works, and what stereotypes to be on the lookout for. He also brings up examples of Polish and Jewish slurs, and yet this account decided to publish the example he gave about what racists say about African Americans because it's definitely not a hackish hit piece by a charlatan, and is simply a sincere attempt to parse the words of a very powerful politician.

It's clear as day that the person behind this Twitter account is either completely disingenuous, or the internet has irrevocably broken her brain to the point where she doesn't understand that you can provide an example of racism without endorsing that abhorrent viewpoint. Because leftist twitter subsists on water, oxygen and irony, this insane thread was effectively a bat signal in the sky, and they did not disappoint. Here is a sampling of the dunk contest taking place on this thread.

I'll fetch the fainting couch — Juggalocialism (@UweBollocks) January 30, 2019

Thanks so much for all your work promoting Bernie Sanders lately. Between this and the shirtless Russian video, you've done a lot to boost his image and I want you to know it's really appreciated.. — Every Billionaire Is A Policy Failure (@DanRiffle) January 30, 2019

This is awful. I prefer my politicians to be espousing wholesome beliefs, like jailing parents for their children's truancy and using prisoners as servants. — Dr Fran van Plannaram Ph.D. (@dismalplaces) January 30, 2019

Click on any tweet in this thread to see the entire “hit piece” that’s really just publishing videos proving that Bernie Sanders has remained remarkably consistent since 1986, and scroll down in the comments if you want to see the avalanche of folks tweeting various versions of “lol you thought this was an attack?”

Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.