#BernieLostMe

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Part of a series on Bernie Sanders. [View Related Entries]

About

#BernieLostMe is a hashtag used by supporters of the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to share their reasons as to why the rival candidate Bernie Sanders is the less suitable nominee for the Democratic National Convention, which began trending after Sanders refused to denounce some of his supporters who behaved violently at the Nevada Democratic Convention in May 2016.

Origin

On May 14th, 2016, Nevada Democratic Party held its convention at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas as the final stage of the state's delegate selection process. While Hillary Clinton had already emerged as the winner of the Nevada caucuses in February, many supporters of Bernie Sanders showed up at the convention with high hopes that the final count of the delegates would swing in Sanders' favor. During the procession, chaos suddenly erupted from the crowds when the party officials declined to accept the credentials of nearly 60 of Sanders' prospective delegates, which made them ineligible for the final count and thusly Hillary Clinton emerged as the winning candidate.

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Many supporters of Sanders in the crowd reacted angrily to their ruling with jeers and violence, ultimately prompting the staff to conclude the event early to ensure the safety of the participants. While the degree of violence at the scene has been disputed by supporters of both candidates, many major news outlets reported that chairs and other objects were thrown around and the state party's chairwoman Barbara Boxer was harassed with death threats.

Bernie Sander's Response

On May 17th, Bernie Sanders issued a response to the incident amidst growing pressures from the Democratic Party to denounce his supporters' acts of violence. However, Sanders defiantly dismissed the complaints of the Nevada party officials as "nonsense" in defense of his supporters.

Spread

On May 18th, the hashtag #BernieLostMe began trending on Twitter as many supporters of Clinton and undecided voters expressed their disappointment at Sanders' response, particularly from Black Democratic voters. That same day, The New Civil Rights Movement reported on the trending status of #BernieLostMe.

On May 19th, #BernieLostMe was picked up by grassroot supporters of both Democratic candidates, with some Sanders supporters on Reddit and 4chan calling for a hijack of the hashtag, as well as various news outlets and political news blogs, including ABC News, AOL News, Complex, Wired, Mic, Red Alert Politics and Paste Magazine.

Examples

Following the initial period of trending, the hashtag also became a target of parodies and satires among supporters of Bernie Sanders and Republican presidential candidates alike.