The Internet Reacts To Bernie Sanders' Campaign Suspension With Mixed Emotions And Lots Of Memes

On April 8th, 2020, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders announced that he would suspend his campaign. The news comes after a series of primary defeats to former Vice President Joe Biden, who will now challenge President Trump in the 2020 race.

In a livestream on Twitch at 11:45 a.m. EST, Sanders stated that the reason for ending his bid was concerns over interfering with the Democratic challenge to ultimately replace President Trump. “I wish I could give you better news, but I think you know the truth, and that is that we are now some 300 delegates behind Vice President Biden, and the path toward victory is virtually impossible,” Sanders said. “I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour.”

Despite dropping out, Sanders will remain active in politics, adding that he will continue to push the movement surrounding his campaign. By remaining on the ballot in states that still have active primaries, he hopes to influence the Democratic Party’s future through leverage. “While Vice President Biden will be the nominee, we must continue working to assemble as many delegates as possible at the Democratic convention, where we will be able to exert significant influence over the party platform and other functions,” Sanders stated.

As the news began trending on a number of social media platforms Wednesday morning, many online quickly voiced their opinions on the matter through outrage, happiness and a swath of memes.

On Twitter, #BernieDropOut rapidly became one of the top trending hashtags, with “Bernie” rising to the very top of the politics section in U.S. trends. Reactions to the news on the platform were a mixture of both positive and negative. One such example was tweeted by user Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, who contributed to the commonly seen rhetoric that while some of Sanders’ supporters will now back Biden, they aren’t optimistic.

Good luck to @JoeBiden. He is going to need it. I will always work 100% to make sure Trump is not re-elected. I have never wavered from that. But Biden was not our pick. If he loses, it'll be a catastrophe once again brought to you by establishment Democrats and national media.

— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) April 8, 2020

On the other side of the discussion, actor and producer James Woods tweeted “#ByeByeBernie” while celebrating the Senator dropping out. In the replies, several users can be similarly seen praising the news.

And nary a free house from the whole “scampaign,” proving once again what bad deal-makers socialists can be. #ByeByeBernie https://t.co/Ko3B7hAaEL

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 8, 2020

President Trump himself also joined in on the discussion, tweeting that Elizabeth Warren was the reason for his loss, while also comparing Sanders’ campaign to the previous election in 2016. Following this tweet, many online were seen either agreeing with the President or telling him to shove off.

Bernie Sanders is OUT! Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday! This ended just like the Democrats & the DNC wanted, same as the Crooked Hillary fiasco. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

Former Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren also tweeted a message after the announcement where she thanked Sanders for "… fighting so relentlessly for America’s working families during this campaign."

Thank you @BernieSanders, for fighting so relentlessly for America’s working families during this campaign. Your fight for progressive ideas moved the conversation and charted a path for candidates and activists that will change the course of our country and party.

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 8, 2020

Several other Twitter users took the opportunity to make light of the situation through memes. User shoe0nhead tweeted an image of Bernie preparing to run again in 2024 using the Dick Flattening meme format.

I HAVE AWAKEN pic.twitter.com/vw24HoaPyN

— june (@shoe0nhead) April 8, 2020

KAYCSZN tweeted a reaction GIF of Rihanna throwing a stack of cash alongside the caption, “Me giving my vote to Biden just so we can beat trump.”

Me giving my vote to Biden just so we can beat trump
#BernieDropOut pic.twitter.com/NSSyvJuCoW

— kayc (@KAYCSZN) April 8, 2020

On Reddit, the news also sparked a massive discussion on multiple subreddits, also seeing a mix of reactions. On the r/Politics subreddit, a megathread began around 11:30 EST and quickly racked up almost 70,000 comments in the thread in just five hours. One of the top comments from Redditor B789 read, “Now is the time to unify behind Joe Biden. The only goal is to defeat Donald Trump.”

Over on the r/SandersForPresident sub, Redditor vtboyarc posted an image of the announcement under the title, “It’s over, sadly. Heartbroken. We needed him more than ever.” This post received over 13,000 comments from various users in roughly five hours, mostly those expressing their despair over the news or attempting to find some positives from the campaign, despite the loss. One of the top comments came from Redditor cocobandicoot, who said, “… He knows that it’s bigger than him. That’s why we must play the long game and do what we must to keep the progressive movement going forward. It means we will have to make hard choices--even voting for someone we didn’t want to--but if it stops Trump, and allows Bernie’s legacy to continue, it will have been worth it. Not me, us.”

Elsewhere on Reddit, a plethora of memes began springing up in the wake of the announcement. Redditor AlarmedScholar, known for the “"It Is Time":https://www.reddit.com/r/PresidentialRaceMemes/comments/fdphwd/it_is_time_a_chronology/” meme series that depicts each Democratic candidate who dropped out ascending into heaven, continued the theme on the r/PresidentialRaceMemes sub by adding Sanders to the image.

Also posted to r/PresidentialRaceMemes that morning, Redditor fionaappleswhore photoshopped Sanders into the Death and the Dog meme with the text “Was I a good candidate?”

The Facebook group Lord of the Rings Shireposting also added to the memes with an image taken from The Hobbit depicting “2020 can’t get any worse” followed by “Bernie Sanders ends 2020 presidential campaign” in the form of the Goblin King’s body crushing them.

Another viral video from TikTok user kwearstin has also been making the rounds on social media, receiving hundreds of thousands of views and being cut and edited with various clips.

pic.twitter.com/0EAIzfTTZU

— Carlos (@ChuckeEChaves) April 9, 2020