Bernie Sanders Addresses Delegates: Jane Drops Bomb On Hot Mic
Could Bernie Sanders still win the Democratic nomination? That’s the question a lot of Sanders supporters are asking after his wife, Jane, approached him after his speech to delegates on Monday afternoon. After approaching her husband, Jane spoke some words to him when the microphone was still on. Delegates who were present are certain she indicated he is still being considered by the party elite.
At the 23:17 mark on the video, Jane approaches, speaks into Bernie’s ear, and appears to say, “They don’t know your name is being put up for nomination.”
Jane says a few more words, but they are unintelligible over the fray.
Does she mean for president, or is his name being put up for nomination for DNC chair? After all, with Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s resignation, the position is open. Donna Brazile is only the interim chair, and it is unlikely she will become the permanent chair, especially after her own emails revealing bias against Sanders during the heated primary process.
Bernie’s speech was a continuation of his standard stump speech but with a nod to the future of his progressive vision for the United States. With a sticker stuck to the underside of his forearm, Bernie told his delegates that the activism they participated in is “unprecedented” in modern American history.
“Make no mistake about it, we are making history… We have shone the entire world that our ideas are not some crazy, wild utopian fantasies. They are ideas supported by working people from one end of this country to the other.”
“Debbie Wasserman-Schultz resigned this morning. This opens up the possibility of new leadership at the top of the Democratic Party that will represent the working people and represent people who want real change.”
He touched on the crumbling infrastructure, his resolve to fight for a $15 minimum wage, a single-payer health care system, and defeating disastrous international trade policies like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He criticized Republicans for denying climate change and vowed to “transform our energy system away from fossil fuels.”
And then he did it. He told his delegates that they must defeat Trump, and in order to do that, voters must elect Hillary Clinton. USA Today reports he was roundly booed, and the video supports that. The atmosphere went from happy, excited, and supportive to immediately angry. The crowd roared collectively. They shouted, “No!” and booed loudly.
DNC chairwoman Wasserman Schultz loses job as convention head after email leak: https://t.co/LZLMtsFMhf pic.twitter.com/7ELtCXVpYb
— Slate (@Slate) July 25, 2016
Bernie looked visibly upset by the sudden turn, but he should have expected it. His face became red; he bowed his head, and it appeared as though he had not wanted to encourage his supporters to vote for Clinton. The Observer reports he called Trump a demagogue and a bully, who would set the country’s progress back.
Chants of “We want Bernie!” and “Feel the Bern!” resonated simultaneously within the room as he struggled to make his case to support Hillary’s nomination.
As Bernie closed his speech, he thanked his supporters for an extraordinary campaign and encouraged people to get involved in politics, from running for school board to running for national Senate seats. He appeared touched and almost resigned to the fact that he is not heading to the floor for the Democratic nomination but as someone who is charged with the very difficult task of trying to tame the beast he created and realizing it would never happen.
Bernie feels the Bern of his anti-Clinton delegates https://t.co/RQgNncEDVK pic.twitter.com/OZr1IgImHn
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) July 25, 2016
But speculation was aroused when Jane walked up to the podium and said his name is up for the nomination. But nomination for what? President? DNC Chair? Was Jane referring to a floor fight?
Jeff Taylor, who attended the speech, tweeted Jane’s words, and after listening to the video, it does appear she did say it.
As the convention begins, only time will tell if Jane’s statement about a nomination into the hot mic is true, if he will be nominated for DNC Chair or even president, or if Bernie Sanders will leave the convention still a senator from Vermont.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pNQ4d7c2H4
[Photo by Carolyn Kaster/AP Images]
