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Hillary 2016 Team Invades DNC for 2020, Drawing Criticism from Bernie Sanders Supporters

It’s deja vu all over again.

For supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an uncomfortable sense of deja vu has washed over the still-young 2020 race.

Back in 2016, Sanders was one of the top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination.  His opponent, the career politician Hillary Clinton, was considered by many within the Democratic Party to be a flawed candidate, given the glut of scandals that surrounded her, thus providing Sanders with an incredibly powerful and enthusiastic fanbase heading into the final stretch of the primaries.

When Sanders didn’t win, his supporters were incensed.  To make matters worse, whistleblower organization Wikileaks released a cache of emails from within the Hillary campaign that demonstrated how Clinton colluded with the DNC to rig the primaries against Sanders.  What followed was a major migration of progressives away from the Democratic ticket.  This eventually led to the election of Donald Trump to the Oval Office, and is something that young Democrats still haven’t forgiven the former First Lady for.

Now, in 2020, Sanders supporters are growing concerned that a repeat performance could be on the way.

Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ White House bid and some Democratic National Committee members are frustrated with some initial appointments made by DNC Chairman Tom Perez to the crucial committees that will oversee the rules and party platform at this summer’s presidential nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wis.

Their frustration comes after Perez named former Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts – who was a surrogate for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign — as co-chair of the convention’s Rules Committee. And Perez picked John Podesta – who served as Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager – to have a seat on the committee.

Democratic leaders are already starting to revolt.

While the Sanders campaign didn’t respond for comment, national co-chair Nina Turner slammed the appointments as “an embarrassment” and a “slap in the face” in an interview with the progressive online news channel Status Coup.

And DNC committee member Yasmine Taeb – who backed Sanders in 2016 but remains neutral this cycle – told The Hill  that “there’s a very small number of appointments of allies to Sen. Sanders.”

“The appointments also include individuals that are outright hostile to Bernie Sanders and his supporters,” she added. “It’s not the message the DNC should be sending to the grassroots right now when we’re all working aggressively to defeat the racist in the White House.”

With the entire Democratic Party currently embroiled in a battle for the very soul of their organization, any perceived threat against Sanders will likely be taken as an affront to democracy itself, and could pave the way for another easy electoral victory for Donald Trump.

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