Trump's MAGA supporters and Twitter Bernie Bros have this ugly tactic in common [View all]

[lapucelle]

Time and again, we see how backlash on social media is used to bully people into submission and silence criticism. For writers and commentators like me, sometimes we have to weigh whether or not it’s even worth writing something that could incur the wrath of a political figure’s devout following.

The backlash is important because it gives us insights into the nature of the political debate on social media — who has power, and how that power is wielded. And it’s also important to talk about the voices who may be keeping silent — and why.

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This hyper-vocal faction of Sanders supporters — colloquially known as “Bernie Bros” — never went away after the 2016 presidential election. In my personal experience, these bros are almost overwhelmingly white men. And they share, like Trump's ardent supporters, a desire to “put me in my place.”

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Bernie Twitter operates under the self-righteous guise of being the true progressives of the internet. This smugness distinguishes their tweets. But there’s nothing progressive about attacking members of your own party who may have reservations about the presidential candidate you’re supporting. There’s also nothing progressive about having so little tolerance for different opinions that even the hint of opposition is enough to incite a virtual mob, as I and even John Legend have discovered firsthand.

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It should concern Democrats who have spent the past four years lamenting Trump’s deteriorating effect on political discourse that the supporters of a major liberal presidential candidate conduct themselves with such intolerance. And as Trump’s supporters have shown us already, violent rhetoric has ripple effects.

Certainly, Sanders hasn’t encouraged the ugliness that his supporters display and I am confident they do not reflect his politics or the kind of discourse he wants as the would-be standard bearer for the Democratic Party. Giving him that benefit of the doubt, he needs to vehemently denounce the tactics being deployed on his behalf, in his name, in real time. Calling for civility and respectful dialogue requires more than the occasional comment, it will take vigilant admonition.

Look, I’m not pretending that Twitter isn’t a dumpster fire. But I will say that as a person of color, I have never been attacked in such a heinous way by the supporters of former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar or former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Candidates must set a standard of conduct for their supporters, and if it’s not met, it must be denounced. Trump is unwilling to do this, but Democrats shouldn’t sink to the same sub-basemen.

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Kurt Bardella is an NBC News THINK contributor and served as the spokesperson and senior adviser for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee from 2009 to 2013.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-maga-supporters-twitter-bernie-bros-have-ugly-tactic-ncna1117901