At a speech in New York City, Democratic presidential underdog Bernie Sanders applauded a massive union strike, but it was a physician surrogate who stole the show. In introducing the Vermont senator, an obscure health care activist issued a rather direct attack on frontrunner Hillary Clinton, and it wasn’t pretty.
Paul Y. Song, a physician and health care activist, accused congressional Democrats of blocking the nation’s path toward “Medicare for all.” Song baldly attacked “corporate Democratic whores who are beholden to big pharma,” a few seconds after mentioning Clinton by name.
Here is the quote from his speech:
Now Secretary Clinton has said that Medicare for all will never happen. [boos] Well, I agree with Secretary Clinton that Medicare for all will never happen if we have a president who never aspires for something greater than the status quo. [cheers] Medicare for all will never happen if we continue to elect corporate Democratic whores [cheers] who are beholden to big pharma and the private insurance industry instead of us.
It strains credulity to argue that the physician was talking about anyone besides Clinton in this comment.
MSNBC reporter Alex Seitz-Wald broke the story on Twitter, adding that Song said Americans should replace these “corporate Democratic whores” with “Bernie-crats.”
Adds that we need to kick out the “corporate Democratic whores” and replace them with “Bernie-crats.”
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) April 13, 2016
Worse, Sanders proceeded to thank the speakers (among whom Song rather stood out) for their “great introductions.”
.@BernieSanders just thanked @paulysong at #BernieinNY #feelthebern #nyprimary I missed Paul! #AAPI pic.twitter.com/v7jjBOp3K5 — AAPI GIRL FOR BERNIE (@AAPIforBernie) April 14, 2016
Clinton supporters had a fit, and sent #DemocraticWhores trending.
Some Clinton backers noted Hillary’s strength in battle-ground states.
#DemocraticWhores Won 5 of the 6 must win Battlegrounds states that elects the president (OH, FL, VA, NC, MO) only PA left
— SouthFlorida4Hillary (@SFL4Hillary) April 14, 2016
Millennials with Hillary account manager Kaivan Shroff tweeted this.
Bernie Sanders has lowered the level of discourse in the Democratic Party. This isn’t who we are, this isn’t what we do. #DemocraticWhores — Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) April 14, 2016
Some openly asked why Sanders will not lead “against hate.”
Why won’t @BernieSanders apologize for this #DemocraticWhores comment? Why does he refuse to lead? #AgainstHatehttps://t.co/x6FSOpXQDp
— Trevor LaFauci (@Trevor_LaFauci) April 14, 2016
Next Page: The physician’s response to all this hate… Song eventually apologized for his comment.
I am very sorry for using the term “whore” to refer to some in congress who are beholden to corporations and not us. It was insensitive. — Paul Y. Song (@paulysong) April 14, 2016
Sanders has yet to offer a formal apology, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. While the Vermont senator might disavow the strong language of “whores,” the sentiment hits on his themes precisely.
Feeling the Bern often accompanies other symptoms, such as righteous anger at crony capitalism and corporate welfare, the unholy union of big business and big government which many conservatives also vehemently oppose. Clinton is far from alone in filling the role of go-between for bureaucrats and CEOs, but with her prominent (and highly compensated) speeches in front of big businesses, she makes a perfect symbol of everything that is wrong with Washington, D.C.
“Corporate Democratic whores” is just a colorful way to describe what true-believing liberals and conservatives hate about Washington. It’s insulting, and it might go too far, but it’s not without some truth.
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