Advertisement
IRL

People are blasting Warren over reports that Sanders said a woman can’t win

#ITrustBernie trended as people sided with Sanders.

Photo of Samira Sadeque

Samira Sadeque

Elizabeth Warren

CNN on Monday published a report claiming Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at a meeting in December 2018 that a woman couldn’t be elected president. The report resulted in a major backlash online—for Warren.

Featured Video

According to the report, which quotes four sources who weren’t present during the conversation, the Democrats were discussing their political aspirations and supposedly entered a friendly agreement to “remain civil and avoid attacking one another” when Sanders made the offending remark.

“Warren laid out two main reasons she believed she would be a strong candidate: She could make a robust argument about the economy and earn broad support from female voters. Sanders responded that he did not believe a woman could win,” CNN reports. 

After the explosive report, Sanders denied the claims and called them “ludicrous.”  

Advertisement

“It’s sad that, three weeks before the Iowa caucus and a year after that private conversation, staff who weren’t in the room are lying about what happened,” he told CNN. “What I did say that night was that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could. Do I believe a woman can win in 2020? Of course! After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes in 2016.”

Warren issued a statement on Monday evening confirming the 2018 meeting with Sanders.

“Among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate,” Warren’s statement said, according to BuzzFeed News reporter Molly Hensley-Clancy. “I thought a woman could win; he disagreed. I have no interest in discussing this private meeting any further because Bernie and I have far more in common than our differences on punditry.”

On social media, many saw the incident as an attack by Warren on Sanders to distract from her own campaign. Several people called it a “cheap” shot.

Advertisement

https://twitter.com/chaloelikesthis/status/1216797112408498176?s=20

Advertisement

Advertisement

 

Many Sanders supporters seemed to be invigorated by the report, and #ITrustBernie was trending on Twitter by Monday afternoon.

Advertisement

Advertisement

https://twitter.com/ZephyrTeachout/status/1216798678276546560?s=20

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

https://twitter.com/ewilkinson517/status/1216812426177413120?s=20

https://twitter.com/johnnymarz/status/1216746387615965184?s=20

Others said reports of the conversation caused them to lose their trust in Warren and definitively swayed their vote.

Advertisement

Advertisement

 

People also criticized CNN for reporting the claim based on sources who weren’t present and dropping the story one day before the Democratic debate. 

https://twitter.com/jackallisonLOL/status/1216815215213346816?s=20

Advertisement

Advertisement

 

News of the controversial dinner came on the heels of Politico’s report this weekend that Sanders’ campaign was turning on Warren.

Advertisement

It’s all leading some Democrats to remind everyone else what’s at stake if they lose this year.

https://twitter.com/travishelwig/status/1216820901146021888?s=20

https://twitter.com/davidmweissman/status/1216821711603216385?s=20

READ MORE:

Advertisement
 
The Daily Dot