Bernie Sanders supporters are reveling in the fallout of President Joe Biden‘s debate performance against Donald Trump, one that has caused more consternation among Democrats, less than five months away from a pivotal election rematch.
Briahna Joy Gray, former Sanders press secretary in 2020, stood out among multiple comments, writing on X, formerly Twitter: “All subsequent disappointments aside, I wonder how the people who kneecapped Bernie’s 2020 campaign are feeling about now.”
The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur wrote: “Let’s get this party started right. I officially nominate Bernie Sanders.”
Biden, 81, has been critiqued for a performance that didn’t quell many concerns about his age, ability to defeat 78-year-old Trump, again, and whether he could lead the U.S. another four years if victorious. The president has been panned for what some have described as a lack of enthusiasm, including confusing answers that Trump took advantage of in his own responses.
During the debate, moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, the presumed presidential candidates tussled over issues like the economy, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, immigration and abortion.
The timing of the debate, which occurred earlier than in previous election cycles, comes as party members still have time to assess the race ahead of their late summer nominating conventions.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and incumbent Joe Biden shown on a studio monitor. Supporters of Bernie Sanders are calling out Biden’s performance and age.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Sanders, a longtime fixture in Washington, put up a tough fight against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary and gained national prominence.
Four years later, he took an early lead against Biden in that primary before the incumbent received a flurry of support in South Carolina—largely attributed to a Black Democratic coalition. Recently the grouping has wavered against him, with roughly 30 percent of Black Americans saying in a new poll from the New York Times and the Siena College Research Institute that they would vote for Trump.
All subsequent disappointments aside, I wonder how the people who kneecapped Bernie’s 2020 campaign are feeling about now.
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) June 28, 2024
More Sanders supporters weighed in to highlight Biden’s weakened position. Journalist David Sirota, who worked on Sanders’ 2020 campaign, included a GIF on X regarding Biden’s vitality that said: “We tried to tell you the whole time. It’s right there.”
“Never forget that the only reason Biden was on that stage tonight is because in 2020, after Bernie won the first few primaries, the DNC panicked and demanded that every other candidate drop out and back Biden (including Buttigieg, who was polling way ahead of Biden),” wrote Kathryn Rose Fisher.
“Bernie was too old???” wrote Randy Bryce, a union ironworker and former Democratic nominee for Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district in the 2018 midterm elections.
Sanders supporters noted that the independent Vermont senator was “trending in the top 10 [on X] for a presidential debate he was not in.”
Newsweek reached out to Sanders’ office via email for comment.
Sanders is actually older than Biden. He turns 83 on September 8.
In May, the progressive fixture who has caused ripple effects throughout a party he caucuses with announced he would run for another Senate term. If victorious, it would be his fourth stint and continue the longest nonpartisan run in congressional history.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
