Bernie Who? Twitter Mocks ‘Mindbogglingly Dumb’ Takes That Downplay Sanders’ NH Primary Victory

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) won the New Hampshire Democratic primary Tuesday night, a state he won handily four years ago in defeating Hillary Clinton. The Vermont Independent Senator took first place in the Granite State, followed by Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former Vice President Joe Biden finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Perhaps because Sanders was such a heavy favorite coming into the first primary, many in the media have opted to lead their stories with the surprising results that Mayor Pete did so well or the “Klobucharge” storyline. This approach has only reaffirmed a seemingly angry base of Bernie supporters convinced that their candidate is a victim of biased or unfair coverage from the establishment press.

Take for example the New York Times Jeremy Peters, who exemplifies what is drawing the Bernie Bro ire with the following assertion that “under any normal standard of assessing the Democratic race, Pete would be called a frontrunner.” Peters Tweeted:

Pete, after winning Iowa, is almost beating Bernie in a state Bernie won four years ago by 22 points. Under any normal standard of assessing the Democratic race, Pete would be called a frontrunner.

— Jeremy W. Peters (@jwpetersNYT) February 12, 2020

Trip Gabriel got in the act, as did Reuters:

No. 1 story of the night: @amyklobuchar

No. 2 story of the night (so far): @PeteButtigieg coming closer to @BernieSanders than expected.

— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) February 12, 2020

Pete Buttigieg finishes second in New Hampshire primary, Amy Klobuchar third – Edison Research. Live updates: https://t.co/pySqBsgaOW #NHprimary2020 pic.twitter.com/jzNxBwMjmT

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 12, 2020

These claims resonated on Twitter but not in the way that it was intended, drawing ridicule, mockery from numerous blue-checked accounts. To wit:

Personally, I’d say the candidate who won 1.5 states (Sanders) is the frontrunner over the candidate who won 0.5 states (Buttigieg), especially if that candidate is also leading national polls. https://t.co/R5oR4RfyM6

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 12, 2020

No. Unlike Clinton or Obama, Sanders won the most votes in the first two contests. He does better among younger, less-educated voters coming up in the next three voting dates. He has highest approval rating among Dems, and is the majority second choice for other supporters. https://t.co/fD7Vx9ahSQ

— Michael Brendan Dougherty (@michaelbd) February 12, 2020

This is mindbogglingly dumb. https://t.co/KdHS7puDn6

— Nima Shirazi (@WideAsleepNima) February 12, 2020

Everyone is dunking on this but of course this is how primaries get covered when we treat them like horseraces. The ascendant underdog has an advantage. The consistent frontrunners are old news. It’s not an anti-Bernie conspiracy; it’s that novelty-obsessed coverage is misleading https://t.co/clvZxG4o9o

— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) February 12, 2020

They really will do anything to undermine Sanders, huh? https://t.co/snUw1tVhnQ

— Jillian C. York (@jilliancyork) February 12, 2020

The race now moves on to the Nevada caucuses, then the South Carolina primary, followed by Super Tuesday.

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