To the dismay of some of his more hardcore supporters, Senator Bernie Sanders took the stage at the Democratic National Convention Monday night not as the nominee for president, but as a supporter of his former opponent Hillary Clinton.
“I am proud to stand with her,” Sanders said, to a mixed reaction from a crowd that was undoubtedly not as unified as the Democratic party would like.
On the day of his speech, there were protesters outside Wells Fargo Center angry about the results of the election—Just last week, leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee showed some party officials were biased against Sanders in the primary election. The leak, some believe, proves that the election was indeed rigged against the Senator, and that he could have won otherwise.
And as some of his supporters booed at the mere mention of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine on the floor of the convention, he asked his supporters to stop via a text message, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Even his former National Press Secretary Symone Sanders weighed in on Twitter, saying, “No one stole this election from us…There are other qualms, other valid arguments, but a stolen election is not one. I worked there.”
And when the Vermont Senator took the stage on Monday night, he received a close to five minute standing ovation for his efforts and message in the election. There were even a few people in the crowd openly sobbing at the sight of the beloved candidate as he spoke to the packed stadium of supporters of both himself and Clinton.
The ‘Bernie or Bust’ movement will likely continue despite Sanders’ comments at the DNC. But last night he gave his strongest, most compelling endorsement of the former Secretary of State so far.
To stop the jeers from the audience, Sanders ended almost every mention of Clinton with a note about the strong platform she is running on in the general election. And as she has now adopted a lot of the more progressive policy plans that endeared Sanders to his voter base—such as promising free college tuition to some families—it became pretty hard for them to boo.
Sanders’ emphasis on economic inequality was second to none in this election, making his praise for Clinton’s policy on the matter all the more important.
“Hillary Clinton understands that if someone in America works 40 hours a week, that person should not be living in poverty. She understands that we must raise the minimum wage to a living wage. And she is determined to create millions of new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure—our roads, bridges, water systems and wastewater plants,” Sanders said.
While the Sanders campaign is over and a majority of people believe it is now time to unite with Clinton, the emotion at the convention as Sanders spoke was really something to see. The crowd’s reaction to his speech truly shows just how much his campaign resonated, and how many people are determined to continue the movement he started.