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The Media is supposed to be impartial and fair, but when it comes to Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, the mainstream media has been anything but fair and impartial. The tension between Senator Sanders and the media is nothing new. When he launched his Presidential campaign in 2015, “The Washington Post” published 16 negative articles on Sanders in less than 24 hours. CNN contributor Donna Brazile was fired for leaking debate questions to the Hillary Clinton Campaign; empty Donald Trump podiums were covered over Bernie Sanders rallies, it seems the media is even more desperate to stop Sanders this time around.
The Sanders 2020 campaign was written off by the media from the beginning; the same month Senator Sanders announced his campaign in Brooklyn in front of 13,000 people, CNN ranked him as the number six Democratic most likely to win the nomination. Chris Salizza and CNN ranked New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, former Texas Rep Beto O’Rourke and California Senator Kamala Harris ahead of the Vermont Senator; all three of these candidates were given glowing coverage by the media and all three candidates dropped out of the race before the first votes have even been cast. Ranking Senator Sanders behind unknown senators like Cory Booker after Sanders won 22 of the 50 states in 2016 with 47 percent of the votes shows how out of touch the media seems to be with voters. Almost one year later, CNN polling has shown Bernie Sanders ahead of all five candidates ranked ahead of him, while also raising more money than any other candidate.
The media’s coverage of Senator Sanders is not just proof of how out of touch the media is with the average voter, it shows that many media outlets are not necessarily fair and neutral. The coverage of Bernie Sanders in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns have shown that the media is biased against the senator and his candidacy for President.
One of the newest smears against Sanders from the media comes from MSNBC host Joy Ann Reid. Reid brought on “body language expert” Jeanine Driver onto her “AM Joy” morning show to prove Bernie Sanders was lying about telling Senator Elizabeth Warren that he does not believe a woman could become President. The body language expert went on to prove why she thinks “Bernie is Lying” saying things such as “his shoulders come up like a little kid getting caught,” and “He starts with ‘well.’ Liars like to start with ‘well.” Bringing on a so-called expert who is on the record as saying things like “people who wear the color orange can not be trusted” and claiming that vaccine manufacturers are lying about the safety of vaccines, the way Driver did shows that MSNBC does not care about facts when it comes to reporting on Senator Bernie Sanders.
The attacks on Sanders have gotten more ridiculous over time, as the Vermont Senator and self-described feminist has seen attacks from MSNBC and CNN accusing him of sexism. Days before the July Democratic Debate, MSNBC legal analyst Mimi Rocah appeared on “Up with David Gura,” where she made comments about Bernie Sanders saying “I can’t even identify for you what exactly it is. But I see him as sort of a not pro-woman candidate,” Rocah continued. “So, having the two of them there — like, I don’t understand young women who support him. And I’m hoping having him next to her will help highlight that.”
The attacks on the senator are nothing new and will most likely continue if Sanders becomes the Democratic Nominee. Luckily for the Vermont Senator, according to a Gallup poll 58 percent of the public does not have trust in the mass media; because of this and the 40 year consistent record of Bernie Sanders, he is currently surging in the polls less than two weeks before the first votes take place in Iowa.
Written by Jaylen Conwell. Edited by Kimberley Spinney
Sources:
Gallup: Media Use and Evaluation
CNN: 2020 rankings: How will Beto O’Rourke shake up the field
Washington Examiner: MSNBC analyst: Bernie Sanders “makes my skin crawl”
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons license