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Bernie Sanders' Nevada caucus win caused a ruckus on political Twitter

A Sanders win left members of the D.C. political press hilariously dazed and alarmed.

Adam Rosenberg

on February 23, 2020

Bernie Sanders' Nevada caucus win caused a ruckus on political Twitter

bernie sanders Credit: Eric Gay / AP / Shutterstock

Whatever you yourself may think of him, Bernie Sanders is really firing people up.

On Saturday, the would-be Democratic nominee for president logged his third winning primary season performance, in the state of Nevada. And a commanding one at that, with the Vermont Senator nabbing almost 47 percent of all the votes cast, while the other candidates split the rest.

The ascent in general of someone like Sanders, a progressive candidate whose political lean can be summed up as "democratic socialist," has rattled the more moderate and conservative corners of mainstream media. So when the Nevada results showed voters had a strong preference for Bernie on Saturday, there was a little bit of a meltdown on TV news and social media.

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This one clip from MSNBC started making the rounds early, before the final results even came in. And folks, that sigh you hear speaks volumes about how many pundits are feeling as Sanders continues to amass support.

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Later on in the day, MSNBC was the subject of ridicule (and more than a little scorn) once again when host Chris Matthews appallingly compared Sanders' success to the Nazi invasion of France during World War II.

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It's a ridiculously hyperbolic assertion given the Sanders campaign's liberal policies and unity messaging. But the comparison also veers into the offensive the moment you remember that Sanders himself was born into a Jewish family, and that his political beliefs are shaped in part by his family's experiences during the Holocaust.

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The people of Twitter had some things to say to (and about) Matthews after his questionable comparison.

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Then there was political commentator James Carville, who appeared on MSNBC to express the opinion that Russian president Vladimir Putin was the big winner in Nevada on Saturday.

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Yes, MSNBC is coming up a lot here. The #msnbcmeltdown hashtag is still rattling around on Sunday morning Twitter. Many jokes were made on Saturday about the parade of D.C. political press figures sounding alarms on the network about Bernie Sanders as Nevada caucus results were finalized.

As many Sanders supporters (or just generally rational-minded people) pointed out, the results so far are a good thing. In a primary season that's been dogged by endless questions about who's the most "electable" and the best-positioned to take on Donald Trump in November, the hunt has been on for a frontrunner.

Sanders now has three victories in the first three early primary states – a literally unheard of feat in U.S. politics, across both parties – and his Nevada win was the most commanding one yet. But instead of focusing on the emergence of what looks to be a clear front-runner, political commentators – many of whom, yes, shared their thoughts on the typically left-leaning MSNBC – went out of their way to paint Sanders as a hopeless situation for Democrats hoping to see November's election bring some change.

That didn't sit right with a lot of the observers in Twitter's peanut gallery, who responded both to the network directly and also to the very idea that Sanders isn't electable. The important thing to remember when you're looking at Twitter is it only represents a fraction of the actual electorate.

Look instead to what the voters are saying en masse. They've been speaking up since the primary season kicked off with the Iowa caucus, and they spoke very loudly in Nevada on Saturday.

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Topics Bernie Sanders Politics

Adam Rosenberg

Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.