Outcry from Sanders supporters after leaked DNC ‘atheism’ emails

Bernie Sanders supporters Friday tore into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on social media after a leaked email appeared to show a DNC official plotting to question Sanders’s religion.

The email, written by Chief Financial Officer Brad Marshall and leaked by the DNC hacker Guccifer 2.0 to WikiLeaks, suggests sending a surrogate to ask an unnamed candidate whether that candidate believed in God. 

{mosads}The email does not name the Vermont senator, but it talks about a man of “Jewish heritage” Marshall believes to be an atheist. It makes reference to voters in Kentucky and West Virginia, two states that were weeks away from a Democratic primary at the time.

“It might may no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist,” said the email, to other party officials in its entirety. 

Marshall did not respond to a request for comment. But he did tell The Intercept, which first noticed the email, “I do not recall this. I can say it would not have been Sanders. It would probably be about a surrogate.”

The leaked email prompted swift outcry online Friday afternoon. One apparent Sanders supporter tweeted: “HRC folks called Sanders “McCarthyite” & ranted about purity while DNC plotted to smear him as godless commie Jew.”

HRC folks called Sanders “McCarthyite” & ranted about purity while DNC plotted to smear him as godless commie Jew https://t.co/unSQUHlztL

— Eli (@root_of_all_eli) July 22, 2016

Another pernicious aspect of this is the officials’ hunch that they can tar Sanders as an *insufficiently pious* Jew — i.e., an atheist.

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) July 22, 2016

Let’s pretend GOP emails surfaced with operatives planning to attack Bernie Sanders for being Jewish or an Atheist.

A1 Headlines?

— Lee Doren (@LDoren) July 22, 2016

DNC wanted to expose Bernie Sanders as an atheist, well aware of the prejudice atheists face in getting a Govt. job https://t.co/liswkfqHzx

— ɈɈɈɈɈɈɈɈɈɈ (@Jay_Sandwich) July 22, 2016

In which the DNC shows less tolerance for nonbelievers than Ted Cruz. https://t.co/POAkeoNURy

— Radley Balko (@radleybalko) July 22, 2016

Leaked email shows top DNC official hoping to use Bernie Sanders’s judaism against him https://t.co/Hz3uP5g8tg

— Sam Biddle (@samfbiddle) July 22, 2016