No, Bernie Sanders didn’t walk on stage to a homophobic rap anthem
A fake story spread online suggesting that Bernie Sanders walked on stage to a homophobic rap song.
Outlets including Billboard and Uproxx has shared the video, purporting to show Senator Sanders walking on stage in Lancaster, California to rap anthem ‘Where the Hood At?’.
The anti-gay anthem includes the lyrics: “Last I heard, y’all n****s was havin sex, with the SAME sex/I show no love, to homo thugs/Empty out, reloaded and throw more slugs”.
However, the video has emerged as a hoax – after the Sanders campaign debunked it, and the creator outed himself as a Bernie fan playing a trick on the media.
The Sanders campaign had released their own video of the same rally, showing no music was playing as the politician walked on stage.
Sanders spokesperson Warren Gill said the clip was “doctored”, telling the Washington Blade: “Someone ripped the music from a [separate] video and placed it over Sanders’ entrance”.
In a statement to Salon, the video’s creator Edwin Acuna – who actually supports Senator Sanders – says he was trying to fool people with a “social experiment”.
He said: “It started off as a goof, and turned into a social experiment.
“Literally everyone and their mothers went nuts, using it for their own agendas to prove that some how Bernie Sanders was anti-gay all along, I chose that song because I knew it would shake up both ends of the spectrum.
He claimed that he wanted to prove that Hillary Clinton supporters were “a victim of blindly believing everything you see on the internet”.
The video has since been removed.
Senator Sanders previously attracted criticism for claiming that LGBT lobbying groups are part of an “establishment” conspiracy because they endorsed Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton over him.
He had claimed that a Clinton endorsement from the Human Rights Campaign constituted “establishment organizations voting for the establishment candidate”, insisting the decision “cannot possibly be based on the facts and the record.”
HRC had pointed to Clinton’s comprehensive plan on LGBT rights developed in collaboration with rights groups, including 24 separate pledges across detailed policy areas – while the Sanders campaign has identified just seven broad LGBT policy points.
When Sanders suggested Clinton had “insulted” LGBT people, she replied: “I, like many Americans, have evolved… and I’m glad I have.
“I am a 100% supporter and I am absolutely adamant about protecting marriage equality.
“I think it’s significant that the Human Rights Campaign, the leading organization in our country to ensure that the LGBT community has the rights they deserve, have endorsed me.
“Now your candidate said: ‘well, that’s because they’re a member of the establishment’.
“With all due respect, they fight against the establishment every single day. And I’ve been with them for years and I will pass the Equality Act too.”
