In news that has divided Women Marchers across the country, Bernie Sanders has been announced as the opening speaker for the Women’s Convention, a three-day conference organized by the Women’s March founders and scheduled to take place this October in Detroit.

Tamika Mallory, a Women’s March cofounder, told the Detroit Free Press in an interview that Sanders “the right choice to be a headliner for the first national Women’s Convention in 40 years.”

“I think that right now, no one can deny that Bernie Sanders is probably one of the most powerful U.S. senators … on progressive issues, women’s issues, mobilizing millennials. He is really in line with the principles of the Women’s March,” Mallory said.

As the news traveled around the Internet, it became quickly apparent that not everyone agrees. The response on Twitter to the news that Sanders, a white man who has in the past endorsed pro-life candidates, had been selected was overwhelmingly negative.

The Women’s March has not released an official statement in response to the outcry.

Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT