Jews react with sadness to Bernie Sanders dropping out of the presidential race

bernie-sanders-drops-out-presidential-race

Bernie Sanders speaking during the last Democratic debate, with Joe Biden, on March 15, 2020. Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman April 8, 2020

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who pushed progressive issues and outlasted nearly all his political opponents on the strength of tremendous small-amount fundraising, has dropped out of the presidential race, clearing the field for former Vice President Joe Biden to serve as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Sanders’ campaign had a lively, and sometimes controversial, life on social media. So-called ‘Bernie bros’ on Twitter and beyond were accused of hyping up their favored candidate to the point of online bullying. Yet Sanders was also meme-ified by his supporters in more ways than one, such as in a fake gif where he spooks Donald Trump at a campaign rally, or an extremely popular spoof on one of his campaign videos.

Although Sanders underperformed among Jewish voters and donors, he had a strong core of support within the Jewish community – as well as people who supported other candidates but still took pride in his historic campaign. Here are some of the latest reactions on Twitter from Jews reacting to the most successful Jewish presidential campaign in American history.

Wow. I’m heartbroken about Bernie. In all this darkness, he made me believe that people, together, could be the light. He continues to be an inspiration. And he’ll never stop fighting for us.
Thank you, Bernie. For me, you’re right up there w Mr. Rogers.?♥️

— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) April 8, 2020

My little boy loves Bernie. It’s hard to underestimate what it meant to him to see a Jewish person up there, or what he means to millions of underserved & underrepresented folks in this country. I snapped this pic in February because I wanted to remember the hope. pic.twitter.com/tvMRhyg3Cw

— Marissa R. Moss (@MarissaRMoss) April 8, 2020

Thank you, Zayde. The rest is up to us. https://t.co/Y4LbIoahkm

— Jews for Bernie (@jewsforbernie) April 8, 2020

Thank you for doing the right thing today, @SenSanders. I hope that you are able to take some time to enjoy Passover.

— Rabbi Ruti Regan ?️‍??? (@RutiRegan) April 8, 2020

Me mourning the only shot we had at fixing this broken country on the first day of Passover by listening to a Simon & Garfunkel deep cut and sobbing pic.twitter.com/DqNXxmuDn2

— ????? ℌ??? ???????? (@alanalevinson) April 8, 2020

In this essay, I will explore jewish suffering through Bernie Sanders campaign ending coinciding with the first night of Passover

— Sara (@sarazoulay) April 8, 2020

America will not have a Jewish POTUS in the coming 4 years. But rest assured, come Jan. 2021, we WILL have a zaidy with Jewish grandkids in the White House. Am Yisrael Chai! ✡️

— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) April 8, 2020

Dear Bernie supporters: I remember how devastated I felt when @ewarren dropped out of the race. I imagine you feel similarly today. I am sorry. Take the time you need to grieve.

— R’ Rachel Barenblat (@velveteenrabbi) April 8, 2020

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO