Factcheck.org responds to accusations in a tweetstorm from Senator Sanders re: Mercatus study

[ehrnst]

254. When one lashes out angrily with misrepresentations of

valid and nuetral factchecking as "putting blind faith in a far right-wing economist," yes.

I understand that he was using that as a fundraising ask, and it is a re-election year, so that could have exacerbated his anger. The potential to lose those donations is understandably upsetting. When one has such an outsized reaction to respected factchecking orgs, that's not a sign that is one is secure in one's own accuracy. Certainly we see that in the current president. By contrast recall Obama's reaction when pummelled with actual biased and right wing accusations of a fake birth certificate.

Not the first time Sanders has reacted badly to being disagreed with during a re-election year.

In 1998, then Representative Bernie Sanders cosponsored and actively ushered a bill through Congress that would allow Vermont and Maine to dump their nuclear waste in the poor disadvantaged Hispanic community of Sierra Blanca, Texas.

Three West Texan protestors went to Vermont to plead with then Representative Sanders that the dump site shouldn't be located in this poor minority community, Mr. Sanders told the three activists, "My position is unchanged and you’re not going to like it.” When asked if he would at least visit the proposed site in Sierra Blanca, he said: “Absolutely not. I'm gonna to be running for re-election in the state of Vermont."