Politics

New Republic: Don’t Call Self-Avowed Socialist Bernie Sanders A Socialist

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Alex Griswold Media Reporter
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The latest gem from liberal magazine The New Republic is a thought-piece demanding that news outlets stop calling newly-declared Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders a socialist, despite the Vermont senator calling himself a socialist. (RELATED: New Republic Gets The Award For Dumbest Reaction To Fake Rolling Stone Story)

In “Stop Calling Bernie Sanders a Socialist,” freelance reporter Thor Benson rails against three outlets — including The Daily Caller — that identified Sanders as a socialist in their headlines announcing his run for president. To begin with, it seems odd to call out only three outlets when literally hundreds of news outlets have identified him as a socialist. Because he’s a socialist.

He argues that “in reality, Sanders calls himself a ‘democratic socialist’” …which is a kind of socialist. Socialism is just an economic system; “democratic socialists” merely believe it should be enacted by democratic means (as opposed to through revolution or totalitarianism). Benson argument is akin to saying one shouldn’t call Rand Paul a conservative because he identifies as a “constitutional conservative.

But most irritatingly, Benson admits halfway through the piece that Sanders does identify as just a “socialist” at times. “I am a socialist and everyone knows that,” he said as far back as 1990 in his first House election. But that somehow didn’t dissuade Benson from writing his op-ed anyway. (VIDEO: New Republic Editor Sets Record For Lamest Defense Of Hillary Clinton)

So in conclusion, news outlets are apparently at fault when they apply label Bernie Sanders a socialist, even though Bernie Sanders labels Bernie Sanders a socialist, and even though Bernie Sanders is clearly a socialist.

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