Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball rips op-ed comparing Sanders supporters to those of Trump

Hill.TV host Krystal Ball lashed out at NBC News over an op-ed comparing supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to those of President Trump.

In an op-ed published on Sunday, NBC News THINK contributor Kurt Bardella argued that that like Trump’s supporters, online “Bernie Bros” share “a desire to put me in my place,” and maintained their harassing tactics are anything but progressive.

“Methinks that the propaganda skills Mr. Bardella learned at Breitbart are doing an awful lot of work here with this oppression narrative,” said Ball, referring to Bardella’s past role as a spokesperson for Breitbart News.

“Kudos to NBC News for having such low standards as to publish such a shallow unoriginal bit of inconsequential drivel,” she added.

Ball took issue with a number of points in the op-ed, specifically Bardella’s characterization that the culture surrounding Sanders is toxic and predominantly made up of white men.

“An important subtext of this whole dumb piece is that it’s all toxic young white men bullying women and people of color,” she said. “What I love about this narrative is that it is completely fact free.”

Sanders’s boasts a much more diverse audience than what some pundits suggest. 

A Vice-Ipsos poll released Wednesday showed Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden in a statistical tie percent among African Americans nationwide. According to the survey, 56 percent of African American respondents said they would “consider voting” for Sanders, while 54 percent said the same of Biden.

Sanders also boasts strong Latino support, even outraising other 2020 Democrats from the key voting bloc.

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton nevertheless has made a similar criticism of the culture surrounding Sanders in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, which garnered widespread criticism on Twitter. 

“It’s not only him, it’s the culture around him. It’s his leadership team. It’s his prominent supporters. It’s his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women,” Clinton said.