Bernie Sanders' Comparison of GOP Candidates to Mental Health Patients Set Twitter on Fire
The few instances that rival Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were in accord during the party's recent debate on Sunday in Flint, Michigan include the one where they picked at the GOP's version of discussion.
What Sanders Said
Clinton and Sanders were on the same page in expressing a low opinion of the kind of debates their counterparts are having over at the Republican side. "We have our differences and we get into vigorous debate about issue, but compare the substance of this debate with what you saw on the Republican stage last week," Clinton said.
The crowd applauded. And then Bernie Sanders decided to butt in, "You know, we are, if elected president, going to invest a lot of money into mental health. And when you watch these Republican debates, you know why we need to invest in that."
Twitter Wasn't Happy
While the wisecrack from the Vermont senator was reciprocated with laughter from the crowd, it did not sit well with some people, particularly those who are suffering from mental health conditions.
One Twitter user did not approve of Sanders' remarks and said that the senator just did something that could discourage people from voting for him. Amanda Levitt, who goes by her Twitter handle @FatBodyPolitics, also shared in her post that she has a mental disability and it has nothing to do with racism.
Even some of his supporters weren't happy about his statement. Another user pointed out that there was, indeed, a need to invest into mental health and for educating others in order to prevent people like Sanders to stop making such crude jokes.
Others were just simply aggrieved by the tasteless comparison of mental health with what they perceive as some of the negative behaviors exhibited from the GOP side.
There were, in fact, two instances during the night when mental health was brought up. Prior to Sanders' use of the words, one of the parents of a shooting victim pried Clinton and Sanders regarding the issue of mass shootings and how they intend to address it.
"I don't want to hear anything about tougher laws for mental health or criminal backgrounds, because that doesn't work," said Gene Knopf.
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