(ANTIMEDIA) In a radical show of principle, Bernie Sanders delegates booed the former presidential nominee when he told them to vote for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National convention in Philadelphia Monday evening — and their protests have continued throughout the event.
“We have got to defeat Donald Trump,” he said to a smattering of cheers Monday evening.
“And we have got to elect Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine,” he continued, prompting an explosion of jeers and boos from the audience. As the booing continued, Sanders appeared frustrated, raising his hand as if to hush the crowd. Multiple members of the audience displayed thumbs down hand gestures.
“Brother and sisters,” he said twice as the booing continued.
“This is — this is the real world that we live in. Trump is a bully and a demagogue.” The crowd continued to elicit scattered expressions of disdain.
“Trump has made bigotry and hatred the cornerstone of his campaign,” Sanders added.
While many Americans have defaulted to the common “lesser of two evils” line of reasoning in order to rationalize their support for either Clinton or Trump, it appears some still refuse to feed into it.
Outside the convention, #BernieorBust protesters have continued to voice their opposition to Clinton. However, their demands that Sanders be crowned the Democratic nominee may ultimately be misguided, considering their choice of leader opted to stand inside the convention in solidarity with Clinton — whom he previously consistently criticized — and the very people who sabotaged his campaign, according to last week’s leak of DNC emails. In fact, Sanders insisted the recent revelations did not affect his support for her.
Long before he endorsed Hillary, however, Sanders’s record and rhetoric indicated he would eventually fall in line with her political machine, as did his .
As some Sanders supporters do the same and others hold out hope he might still be the nominee, it appears some of his diehard delegates have shown their commitment to principle over personality in their rejection of his urgings to vote for Clinton.
#BernieSuperDelegate @Cernovich #DemsInPhilly @ScottAdamsSays #StopHer @chuckwoolery #TT #silencedbydnc #Retweet pic.twitter.com/md4n3JoIfx
— Jenn R. Ation Truth (@IntelliJennce) July 26, 2016
As Sanders moved to nominate Clinton during the official roll call vote Tuesday evening, dozens of his delegates staged a walkout. Many vocalized their intentions to leave the Democratic Party over its treatment of him and his supporters. Some wore tape over their mouths as they moved toward the media tent after leaving the main floor.
#Bernie delegates staging walk out of #demconvention pic.twitter.com/KhPly1iWdz
— Hannah Klarner (@Hannah_Klarner) July 26, 2016
In spite of these ongoing sentiments from his base, in a statement issued Monday, Sanders called the Democratic Party’s highly-contested platform this year “the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.” While that platform offers concessions on health care and wages, it fails to condemn the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal — which Clinton supported before opposing — and also excludes any significant challenges to mass surveillance, the military-industrial complex, or acknowledgment of Israel’s military occupation of Palestine. These are all issues Sanders once tackled on the campaign trail.
Nevertheless, Sanders concluded in his recent statement:
“Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president and I am proud to stand with her here tonight.”
Fortunately, not all of his supporters stood with him.
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