The Bernie Sanders Reddit community announced today that they would be indefinitely closing the subreddit /r/SandersForPresident, in an apparent admission of defeat following Sanders speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The subreddit, one of the largest concentrations of Sanders fans on the internet, will stay open until the end of the Convention, but many of the sub’s users were upset with this decision, allegedly sending threats to the mods of the subreddit forcing them to lock the comments section of their announcement thread.
The head mod of the subreddit, /u/Vermonty_Python – otherwise known as Aidan King, the Digital and Social Media manager for the Sanders campaign – received considerable criticism for his decision to close the sub, especially given his comments in the anti Bernie subreddit /r/EnoughSandersSpam where he discussed closing the subreddit in what many believed to be a flippant manner.
Following the announcement, King quickly faced accusations of being paid off by Hillary Clinton were amongst the main comments directs at King with users such as /u/JDBrownThrowaway saying “Go to hell, Aidan. You were 100 percent bought and paid for, you ratfuck DNC puppet scumbag.”
The response of Sanders fans is to be expected given their anger at the recent WikiLeaks dump of DNC emails showing party coordination against Sanders, and their overall disillusionment with the Democratic party establishment. With protesters recently kicking up a storm at the Democratic National Convention, many no doubt expected that the battle against the party establishment would continue.
Supporters of the Vermont senator are known for their passionate and sometimes angry behaviour, such as the riots at a Trump rally in Chicago where supporters chanted “Bernie” over and over again.
Many pro Sanders communities still exist on Reddit, the biggest one being /r/Political_Revolution, however it seems many Bernie fans are unwilling to migrate over to this subreddit and let go of their last bit of hope that Bernie would become president.
The Donald Trump subreddit /r/The_Donald had a message for former /r/SandersForPresidents subscribers, one of acceptance and openness, posting videos of Sanders endorsing Clinton for president with the title “Bernie People… It’s time for Trump.”
Other users even posted “welcome guides” to get Sanders supporters up to speed on Trump memes and inside jokes. /r/The_Donald subscribers have always been quite open about accepting new members, especially from the Sanders camp.
Given that Bernie, the only non-establishment Democratic candidate, now has no chance of being elected as the party nominee, Trump may now be the only anti-establishment candidate left for Sanders fans to vote for.
Lucas Nolan is a Journalism and Media student at Dublin Business School and a regular contributor to Breitbart Tech. He can be contacted via Twitter here: @LucasNolan_
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.