When you think of Sen. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, it’s all good things about the self-described friends doing their best to end the political divisiveness happening in the U.S. right now. But as the primaries draw near, it’s clear there can only be one nominee, and someone has to come out on top. If you’ve heard anything at all about the Sanders and Warren dispute circulating on social media this week, that time has apparently come.
According to CNN, the two presidential candidates met in 2018 to discuss the upcoming election, where Sanders allegedly disclosed that he did not believe a woman could win the race, even with the support of female voters. Sanders has since denied the details of this conversation, though Warren has confirmed them, saying in a statement, “I thought a woman could win; he disagreed.”
So far, the two have remained extremely civil in every conversation, so as not to harm the general progressive movement taking place right now, and to maintain united support on the left. Thought initally bound by a de facto nonaggression pact, Politico has since reported about a leaked script for Sanders campaign volunteers that instructed them to say Warren was a candidate for more “affluent” voters. Then, during this week’s Iowa debate, the possibility of a fued worsened when Sanders was asked to respond to the rumor that he said a woman couldn’t win the election. “I didn’t say it,” Sanders stated immediately. “And I don’t want to waste a whole lot of time on this, because this is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want. Anybody who knows me knows that it’s incomprehensible that I would think that a woman cannot be President of the United States.”
Warren was asked for her repsonse during the debate, to which she emphasized: “Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie.” But refusing to move away from the subject of political inequality entirely, Warren then championed a pitch for women candidates. “I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at people’s winning record. So, can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage—collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they’ve been in are the women.”
And that’s what has actually happened so far, though there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes with everyone from politicians to Twitter audiences speculating about the declining relationship between Sanders and Warren (mostly based off the fact that Warren wouldn’t shake Sanders’ hand after the debate ended). Congresswoman, Ilhan Abdullahi, explained to her followers the importance of the task at hand, specifically re-focusing on actual issues and not petty fighting between candidates.
Trump wants progressives pitted against each other.
Corporate media want progressives pitted against each other.
Billionaires want progressives pitted against each other.
Pitting progressives against each other weeks before the Iowa Caucus hurts ALL of us.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 15, 2020
Women can win at every level of office, including the presidency.
I know that Bernie believes that.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 15, 2020
Let’s not give Trump an arsenal of attacks to use against us.
Bernie Sanders is not a sexist.
Elizabeth Warren is not a snake.
Let’s stay focused on the task ahead: defeating Donald Trump in November and fighting for the America we deserve.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 15, 2020
There is no guarantee that as the primaries draws closer, the two will continue to remain amicable, but everyone has hope since they’ve maintained a positive relationship so far. It will be interesting to watch how this developing information will shape perspectives for young liberal and centrist voters.