On Sanders' reaction to the Russian indictments:
Vermont Public RadioVerified account
@vprnet
"I did not know Russian bots were promoting my campaign."
"The real question to be asked is" why the Clinton campaign didn't do something.
— @SenSanders
Listen live
➡️ digital.vpr.net
People are understandably pissed off at his reaction
Article: Bernie blames Hillary for allowing Russian interference
www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/bernie-sanders-trump-russia-interference-420528
Analysis: www.shakesville.com/2018/02/bernie-sanders-what-are-you-even.html
Pé Resists
*@4everNeverTrump*
More Pé Resists Retweeted Vermont Public Radio
To be clear: Bernie Sanders is making a near-identical argument that Trump has made.
Not a good look.
[Also, "I did not know" is at odds with this from July 2017
BERNIE SANDERS SAYS 'IT'S NO GREAT SECRET' RUSSIA WAS TRYING TO DIVIDE DEMOCRATS AGAINST HILLARY
www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-emails-russian-hackers-kremlin-democratic-639292 ]
From last week:
Bernie SandersVerified account
@BernieSanders
It has been clear to everyone (except Donald Trump) that Russia was deeply involved in the 2016 election and intends to be involved in 2018. It is the American people who should be deciding the political future of our country, not Mr. Putin and the Russian oligarchs.
It is absolutely imperative that the Mueller investigation be allowed to go forward without obstruction from the Trump administration or Congress.
8:23 pm - 16 Feb 2018
Asha RangappaVerified account
@AshaRangappa_
More Asha Rangappa Retweeted Bernie Sanders
The indictment makes clear that they were pushing you, too, @SenSanders. And it's interesting that you also were very quick to claim that our processes were "rigged" as long as you were losing. Coincidence?
Oh, and not to make it more awkward for @SenSanders, but let's not forget the he was ONE OF ONLY TWO senators who voted AGAINST the Russia sanctions bill last July 🤔🤔🤔
Sarah Kendzior
*@sarahkendzior*
More Sarah Kendzior Retweeted Asha Rangappa
Sanders was also one of only four Senators to vote against the Magnitsky Act in 2012.
Sanctions are at the heart of Russian election interference. Sanders' 2012 vote was a sign he would not support future sanctions against Russia -- and, in 2017, he didn't.
Russian/Guns crossover:
Selena Adera 🍩
@Selena_Adera
A flushed and stuttering Bernie appeared on MTP, said PoC FB pages were also attacked, never mentioning they didn't fall for Russian misogyny.
THE BEAUTY:
4:29 mark, asked about his voting record against Gun Control, Bernie loses his cool, YELLS & LIES.
www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-sanders-interview-obama-was-in-a-difficult-position-on-russia-1164410435646
Al Giordano
*@AlGiordano*
More Al Giordano Retweeted Selena Adera 🍩
If anyone in an office or workplace started shouting, interrupting and finger waving like this, he'd be called to the Human Resources office and given a warning. If he kept it up, he'd be fired. That's why the bros identify with him. He is doing what they want to do but can't.
From the same interview:
Bernie Sanders resurrects a ‘zombie’ claim on gun sales without background checks
www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/02/20/bernie-sanders-resurrects-a-zombie-claim-on-gun-sales-without-background-checks/?utm_campaign=cfcpac&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_term=.bc5fe04296c9
“We have to end the absurdity of the gun show loophole. Forty percent of the guns in this country are sold without any background checks.”
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Feb. 18, 2018
At The Fact Checker, we sometimes encounter “zombie claims” — false facts that keep getting repeated, no matter how often we fact-check them.
We thought we had long ago buried this false claim that 40 percent of guns are sold without a background check. But it has once again risen from the dead! Let’s explore.
[...]But Sanders now has even less of an excuse than Obama. That’s because in 2017, researchers at Harvard University and Northeastern University finally published a new survey — and they found that 22 percent of gun owners who reported obtaining a firearm in the previous two years did so without a background check. That’s almost half the percentage of the old figure.
Moreover, among purchased firearms, the figure was 13 percent. That’s one-third of Sanders’s 40 percent claim. Once again, nonpurchased firearms (such as those acquired via a gift or inheritance) accounted for a large share of the weapons obtained without a background check.
Though Sanders referred to the “gun show loophole,” not a single person surveyed said they obtained a weapon at a gun show without a background check.
“Senator Sanders on Meet the Press provided the best information he had at the time,” said spokesman Josh Miller-Lewis. “It appears the number he cited may be outdated. But whether it’s 40 percent or 22 percent of guns being acquired without a background check, millions of Americans still obtain guns without background checks. That’s absurd. No one should be allowed to purchase a gun without a vigorous background check.”
The Pinocchio Test
It’s bad enough that politicians four years ago were using stale data and mischaracterizing it. But now that the research has been updated, Sanders has even less excuse for relying on two-decade-old figures. The most recent research indicates that just 13 percent of guns — not 40 percent — are purchased without a background check.
Sanders earns Four Pinocchios. Please, folks, let’s keep this zombie stat buried from now on.
Four Pinocchios
On his dogwhistles:
Pᴀᴛʀɪᴄᴋ Kᴀʀʟssᴏɴ ⛈
@Patrickesque
“People in urban America have got to appreciate that the overwhelming majority of people who hunt/know/respect guns are law abiding people. That’s the truth.”
“And people in rural America have got to understand that in urban America, ‘guns’ mean something very very different.”
“..I understand that guns in [Vermont] are different than guns in Chicago or Los Angeles...”
David A. Benner 🦅
*@davidabenner*
More David A. Benner 🦅 Retweeted Pᴀᴛʀɪᴄᴋ Kᴀʀʟssᴏɴ ⛈
Vermont’s gun ownership rate is below the national average. It has a low gun homicide rate but only because it has a low homicide rate overall. VT’s gun death rate ranks higher than its gun ownership rate, which is damning to Sanders.
[the insinuation being white vermont guns = fine! happy hunting past times! black chicago urban guns = a problem]