Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore is probably having a bad day right now. His candidate, Bernie Sanders, got totally demolished yesterday in the mini-Super Tuesday that included the key Michigan primary. In 2016, Bernie pulled off an upset win over Hillary Clinton. In 2020, it flipped for Biden—big league. Bernie is a loser with Black Democrats and now suburbanites and white working-class voters in the North. Or at the very least, his standing has greatly diminished with the latter group. The iceberg to this was seen when Biden won Maine and Minnesota on Super Tuesday, states that were considered Bernie-land. Biden addressed his supporters last night, offering an olive branch to the progressive left who will undeniably sit this race out if the Biden camp and the Democratic establishment doesn’t reach out to them in any meaningful way. Prior to voting yesterday, Moore was interviewed by MSNBC’s Katy Tur where he threw cold water on the Biden train, saying the far left won’t see the former VP as “real change” (via The Hill):
Filmmaker Michael Moore predicted on MSNBC there "will be an anti-Biden sentiment" if former Vice President Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee. The liberal activist added that people on the left wouldn't view it "as real change."
Moore, who predicted a Donald Trump victory in November 2016, said that the people in his home state of Michigan have felt ignored for a long time by Democrats. He then pointed to the Flint water crisis not being addressed, from his perspective, adequately by the current Democratic governor.
"Should Biden be the nominee, I don’t think it will be the same anti-Hillary sentiment, but there will be an anti-Biden sentiment," Moore explained to anchor Katy Tur.
"Not so much because of himself personally but because people don’t see this as real change. And people have been told for way too long, especially people who are struggling to live from paycheck to paycheck, that things are going to get better and the Democrats are going to come in and save us," he added.
On election night, Moore apparently had something of a meltdown, noting that the vote total doesn’t reflect the support Bernie has and that those Democrats who are backing other candidates are doing so in bad faith apparently. Max Burns, a Daily Beast writer and Democratic strategist summarized the meltdown, noting, like others on Twitter, that Moore’s post-Super Tuesday 2.0 interview with Brian Williams was an incoherent mess.
Michael Moore on tonight's primaries: "Asking people to do two things-- get rid of Trump and get rid of the system, political and economic system that gave us Trump-- was too much to ask for people who were just like 'Can we just get rid of Trump?'" pic.twitter.com/xuBoWLgk88
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 11, 2020
Somebody check on Michael Moore pic.twitter.com/2RUf3GcYDw
— Dr. Avis (@SistahScholar) March 11, 2020
I have never been happier to watch Michael Moore fall apart on air in my life.
— Thom (@ThomboyD) March 11, 2020
Michael Moore is having an incoherent meltdown on MSNBC right now that is divorced from the primary results.
— Fernand R. Amandi (@AmandiOnAir) March 11, 2020
Michael Moore with some of the deepest things said on MSNBC in years. pic.twitter.com/dCnr8dcuSV
— Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) March 11, 2020
Michael Moore is a mess tonight. He still can not accept that he does not have his finger on the pulse of Michigan this election cycle. There is absolutely no malaise in MI, or the country. Opposite! America is speaking... so loudly, that everything has turned Biden Blue. listen! pic.twitter.com/LtgmaaD5rH
— Mystery Solvent (@MysterySolvent) March 11, 2020
Instead of putting Michael Moore on @MSNBC to ramble incoherently, we could put on literally anyone else.
— Max Burns (@themaxburns) March 11, 2020
In the past 2 minutes @MMFlint has:
— Max Burns (@themaxburns) March 11, 2020
- Said he watches MSNBC every day and knows their tricks
- Refuses to say if he'll support Biden
- Complains that Bernie's vote totals don't reflect his massive support
- Implied folks supporting other candidates are doing so in bad faith
I haven't really paid attention to Moore since I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 in high school, but I don't remember him being so incoherent and listless in his media punditry.
— Max Burns (@themaxburns) March 11, 2020
The guy looks like he just wants to take a nap.
It’s this sort of tantrum that should worry Biden Democrats. These far-left folks won’t be going into that camp, even though they are united in their goal of defeating Trump. It’s beyond that. These are revolutionaries and if you’re not on their side on health care, money in politics, taxes, foreign policy, etc., then you’re no better than a Trump supporter. They want to wipe out the system. They want something new, and they all know Biden isn’t going to deliver that. Why should they get on the Biden train if he’s not going to do what they want to do, especially on health care? Could a successful marriage counseling occur between the two camps? Yes, and that would be bad for Trump, but as of now—the usual fallout from 2016 is at play here. These left-wingers aren’t going to be gung-ho for Biden and a good chunk might just sit it out, especially if you have Biden’s inner team mouthing off and gloating, which you know happened last night. There are no egos like the Democratic establishment who can easily blow this moment for unity. For our sake, I hope they do. Give it time.