Bernie Sanders' team reportedly won't have any tolerance for Biden dissenters at convention

(Image credit: JoeBiden.com via Getty Images)

published 6 June 2020

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who recently locked up enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, said in a statement Friday that he is "proud" the party is "united" heading into November's general election against President Trump. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Politico reports, appears to have something to do with that.

Sanders received a portion of the blame for Trump's 2016 victory within some Democratic circles because many folks didn't think he did enough to help Hillary Clinton after she defeated him in the primaries that year. But even some of his more vocal critics don't feel that way way now. Neera Tanden, president of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress and a longtime Clinton aide, said Sanders "has been a tremendous force in helping unify the party," adding that she's "grateful for his work to urge his supporters to support Biden and fight Trump."

The senator has maintained throughout the election cycle that he'd support the Democratic nominee, and it sounds like his team isn't messing around when it comes to sticking by that promise. Gregory McKelvey, a Sanders supporter from Oregon who ran to be one of his delegates at the Democratic National Convention, told Politico he spoke with a Sanders aide who told him that if they find anything expressing dissent, such as posts including catch phrases "DemExit" or "Never Joe", on a person's social media feed, "then you are out" as a delegate. Read more at Politico.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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