Democrats leaders have become increasingly infuriated at the rising defaming antics of Senator Bernie Sanders’ supporters. The leaders argued that the supporters’ demands for ideological purity are hurting the party ahead of the 2018 midterms and 2020 presidential election where Democrats have a chance of taking over the House and winning some governorship seats.

According to Politico, the prominent Democrats including lawmakers are not only perturbed at the attacks of the supporters, but are more annoyed at the hesitance of Sanders in rebuking his base in every form.

Recent tensions was ignited when Sanders’ loyalists bashed Sen. Kamala Harris as an establishment tool. Kamala is a first time Senator who is dubbed by leaders as a rising star and 2020 hopeful.
In response, Democratic senators and outside groups have admonished Sanders that if he wants to be the set man for Democrats ahead of 2020’s presidential election, he needs to keep his supporters under check or publicly dismiss their claims.

Former Democratic National Committee chairman Don Fowler said, “The Democratic Party has treated Senator Sanders exceptionally well. We collectively let him run in our primaries when he declared he wasn’t a Democrat — I count that as a great favour, and an opportunity almost no one else has ever received”. He subsequently called on the independent Sanders to formally join the party.

“I don’t know what his intentions are in terms of the future. Senator Sanders has to make his own decisions about what’s responsible to do,” Fowler added.

The unheeded complaints from Sanders’ camp sparks a quick misunderstanding of Sanders’ “political revolution”.

However, Mark Longabaugh, a Democratic strategist and former senior advisor to Sanders’ campaign claims “Bernie Sanders really does lead a movement, he doesn’t run an organisation. And movements are different from organisations, a movement operates organically and moves on its own. It can have leaders, but no one directs a movement.”

Adegbite Adedotun