Watch Berserk Bernie Sanders Fans Trap Woman Congressional Candidate in Her Car: ‘BLOCK HER IN!’
A group of Bernie Sanders supporters posted a video of themselves screaming at Illinois Democratic congressional candidate Betsy Dirksen Londrigan and trapping her in her car, yelling “Medicare for All” slogans and demanding that she debate democratic socialist candidate Stephanie Smith.
On Tuesday, local CBS Capital Bureau Chief Mark Maxwell posted a video of a group of Democratic Socialists surrounding Londrigan’s car screaming “Block her in!”, demanding Londrigan debate Smith, and being told to stop shoving.
Bizarre. Watch these Bernie Bros stalk @BetsyforIL and then surround her car last night, while they shout, “Block her in!” They scream at her to debate a fringe far-left candidate who only has 2 donors from Illinois. pic.twitter.com/CAw9aKu56R
— Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) February 26, 2020
But as Maxwell noted in his report, Londrigan appeared at a forum with Smith two weeks ago, and “pledged to support [Smith] if she won.”
“Betsy travels to public events across Central Illinois to hear and discuss issues, like the high cost of prescription drugs, that working families face every day,” Londrigan’s campaign manager Jacob Plotnick said in an email. “A few aggressive individuals are not going to deter her from continuing to have important conversations with the voters of the 13th district.”
The video was from a Facebook live stream that was posted Monday night by a group named “Where is Betsy?”, which describes itself by saying “This page was created for the soul purpose of spotting Betsy Lodrigan Dirkson in her travels through out the IL-13 district.”
It’s unclear whether “Soul Purpose” is intended as a reference to a favorite Michael Bolton bootleg.
Smith responded to the dustup by posting a video of her own — thanking the mob and praising the event as “non-violent.”
The Republican incumbent also issued a statement condemning the “ambush,” and likening it to the shooting at a congressional baseball practice.
“In 2017, a Bernie supporter shot at Congressman Davis and other Republicans practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game,” [campaign spokesperson for incumbent Congressman Rodney Davis, Ashley] Phelps wrote. “Since then Congressman Davis has spoken out against this kind of violence and the harassment others have experienced, saying it shouldn’t happen to anyone. He wishes more people would speak out against this kind of harassment from Bernie supporters.”
Watch the full video above via Where is Betsy?
