Line #19 UsefulNotes/BernieSanders


1	%%As with any real-life person, especially politicians, this page is meant to assess how this person is portrayed in media, not to be the battleground for an Edit War between tropers of differing ideologies. Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment applies - please be considerate.%%
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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bernie_sanders_5.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:[[CelebrityResemblance No, he's not]] Creator/LarryDavid.[[note]] [[LongLostRelative They are distant cousins, though.]][[/note]]]]
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6	->''"I did not get into politics to figure out how to become president. I got into politics because I give a [[PrecisionFStrike damn]]."''
7	-->-- '''Bernie Sanders''' in [[https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/675415280009416704 this tweet]], on December 11, 2015, back when he was still seen as an outsider candidate to most Americans.
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9	Bernard "Bernie" Sanders (born September 8, 1941) is a United States Senator from UsefulNotes/{{Vermont}}.
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11	Born and raised in Brooklyn, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, he grew up in a Jewish family with his parents and his brother Larry (who moved to the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom as an adult and also became a politician[[note]]He served as a councillor in [[UsefulNotes/HomeCounties Oxfordshire]] from 2005 to 2013 and was one of the candidates to succeed UsefulNotes/DavidCameron as Member of Parliament for Witney in 2016, representing the Green Party.[[/note]]). He became interested in politics at a young age, participating in the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement with none other than UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr himself.
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13	Sanders' father emigrated to the United States from what is now UsefulNotes/{{Poland}} just before the rise of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, and much of his extended family was murdered during UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. Sanders credits much of his early interest in politics to this: "A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932. He won an election, and 50 million people died as a result of that election in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, including six million Jews. So what I learned as a little kid is that politics is, in fact, very important." Sanders moved to Vermont in 1968, and his first position as an official elected member of government was as mayor of Burlington; he served as such from 1981 to 1989. He later served as the representative of Vermont's at-large House district in the U.S. Congress from 1991 until 2007, when he was sworn into the Senate following his victory in Vermont's 2006 Senate election.
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15	Bernie Sanders gained national attention in 2016 when he mounted a long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination[[note]](Despite having always been elected as an independent, Sanders caucuses with the Democrats in Congress. Nevertheless, running for the party's nomination without officially being a member was the subject of some controversy.)[[/note]] against frontrunner UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton, a former first lady, U.S. senator, and Secretary of State. He was a stronger competitor to Clinton than most expected considering he was polling under 10% when he announced his campaign, an announcement that was deemed so unnewsworthy that it was only aired by [=C-SPAN 3=]. After climbing in the polls for months he managed to tie Clinton in Iowa and win New Hampshire in a landslide. While Sanders performed strongly among younger voters, it wasn't enough to overcome Clinton's advantage among older and minority voters, and Clinton ultimately won the nomination by a 12-point popular vote margin and 8-point pledged delegate margin.[[note]]Some attribute this to the Democratic establishment favoring Clinton, who received the ''vast'' majority of superdelegate support, and Sanders supporters were generally perceived as having much more enthusiasm than Clinton's supporters.[[/note]] His candidacy inspired many progressive candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for office down-ballot.
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17	Sanders is known for his progressive, left-wing political positions. A self-described democratic socialist (some would say [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy "social democrat"]]), he supports a single-payer health care system in the form of Medicare for All and a massive overhaul of the United States' energy economy through a Green New Deal. He is also notably critical of the United States' habit of engaging in foreign regime change, particularly during UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, supports a two-state solution to the UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict, and has passionately fought for the rights of the UsefulNotes/LGBTCommunity since long before the topic became a mainstream issue. He also advocates for criminal justice reform, automatic voter registration, and is notably the only presidential candidate to call to abolish ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and return to the immigration enforcement system used prior to 2003 (where multiple agencies shared the responsibility).
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19	Sanders's 2016 political campaign gained massive traction among young people, and many of his notable positions, such as a $15 hourly minimum wage, have become part of the Democratic Party's mainstream platform. In 2019, Sanders announced his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, drawing heavily from his strong base from the 2016 primary cycle. For a time, Sanders was seen as the frontrunner, but ultimately lost to former vice president UsefulNotes/JoeBiden, who became the nominee and defeated incumbent president UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump in the general election.
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21	Most portrayals of Sanders focus on his populist rhetoric, Jewish New York heritage, and fiery personality. His LargeHam speeches and his distinct Brooklyn accent made him an easy source of humor among political satirists. Likewise, his old age and Jewish heritage is handy for anyone looking to making jokes about elderly people, Jews, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs elderly Jews]].
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23	!!Filmography featuring Bernie Sanders:
24	* ''Series/BernieSpeaksWithTheCommunity'' (1986–1988) as himself, the mayor of Burlington, Vermont
25	* ''Sweet Hearts Dance'' (1988) [[TheDanza as Bernie]], a friendly neighbor giving out candy to [[TeensAreMonsters Trick-or-Treaters]]
26	* ''My X-Girlfriend's Wedding Reception'' (1999) as Rabbi Manny Shevitz
27	* ''Film/CapitalismALoveStory'' (2009) as himself.
28	* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', "Titanic" sketch (2016) as a passenger on [[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic the ship]]
29	* ''Series/WhoIsAmerica'' as himself interviewed by Billy Wayne Ruddick
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31	!!Music albums featuring Bernie Sanders:
32	* ''We Shall Overcome'' (1987) -- narrator
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34	----
35	!!Bernie Sanders in fiction:
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37	[[foldercontrol]]
38	[[folder:Film]]
39	* In ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020'', Harley Quinn claims that one of the reasons why one of her enemies hates her is because she "voted for Bernie".
40	[[/folder]]
41	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
42	* Is portrayed by Creator/LarryDavid on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''.
43	* Creator/StephenColbert and Creator/SethMeyers use every opportunity to break out their own Bernie impressions on their respective shows.
44	* ''Series/{{Succession}}'' has Gil Eavis as a rather blatant stand-in for Bernie Sanders. Like his real-life inspiration, Eavis is a left-leaning Jewish senator who runs for President on the platform of opposition to wealth inequality.
45	[[/folder]]

Context UsefulNotes / BernieSanders