We’ve seen Bernie Bros and socialist politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez try to make this point — that Bernie Sanders’ and Elizabeth Warren’s policies are actually centrist — but this graph has been showing up in our timeline for the past couple of days and of course, it’s from an academic: Yana Kuchirko is an associate professor of psychology at Brooklyn College (and her pronouns are she/her).
The argument that so many left-wingers have been making is that the political spectrum has moved so far right that “socialist” policies and politicians are actually mainstream. Take a look at the chart to see where everyone falls (with Trump advisor Stephen Miller literally falling off the right edge).
A gentle reminder of how skewed politics are in the United States. pic.twitter.com/BBsyiazk5n
— Yana Kuchirko (@yanakuchirko) March 4, 2020
Caveat: yes this pic lacks nuance, Biden portrayed so close in promixity to Mitch McConnell is obviously not true. But the main point is to dispel misconceptions of left leaning democratic candidates being socialists or communists without acknowledging what left actually means.
— Yana Kuchirko (@yanakuchirko) March 4, 2020
There are people teaching in institutions of higher learning who believe Joe Biden is on the far right. Think about that when you take out that massive loan. https://t.co/fhs9v9E51j
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) March 5, 2020
That’s because these profs are hard communists, not Commies attempting to keep a veneer of acceptability (like Bernie). We REALLY need to purge the education system of people like this. And the ‘social justice’ departments they support.
— (((WitCoHE))) (@E__Strobel) March 5, 2020
If Bernie is "just left of center" what (or who) is the far-left reference point for the person that made this graphic? If they can even answer.
— Gamble VanChunkdrop ?? (@vanchunkdrop) March 5, 2020
Perception
??????Reality
✍?✍?✍? https://t.co/B0Q26jNaIy— Siraj Hashmi ? (@SirajAHashmi) March 5, 2020
Imagine thinking reality is even remotely close to this. Holy shit. https://t.co/Qb3i0tmA2y
— RBe (@RBPundit) March 5, 2020
May I remind you how stupid this ranking system is? I too would enjoy creating a political meme which shows everyone to the left of me as socialists/commies, and my views being centrist, but that's not how this works. I'm no centrist but at least I don't lie about it like you. https://t.co/P5rtMRoGLn
— Jared Rabel (@JradRabel) March 4, 2020
Gentle reminder that anyone who thinks Bernie Sanders is centrist and Joe Biden is far-right is far-left themselves. https://t.co/ErH07l5zo5
— Ben Harris (@btharris93) March 5, 2020
Yes, the real problem with the political debate in the United States is that there aren't enough Stalinists. https://t.co/VBwCbsibjE
— Inez Stepman (@InezFeltscher) March 5, 2020
Yes, thank you for reminding us how badly the left is skewing politics in the US. Imagine being this person. https://t.co/vRdrOA4KhK
— T.J. Eckert (@EckertTJ) March 5, 2020
26,000 retweets & counting calling Joe Biden “far right” and Bernie Sanders jusssssst left of the “center” LOL https://t.co/EvXqfrDm7A
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) March 5, 2020
The exact opposite of reality. Leftists have lost their minds when they think a socialist is center and Trump is far right. Trump is a Democrat from 16 years ago. We've gone left, not right. https://t.co/R5MWe5GYFs
— Cozy Gamer Gimp (@GrumpyCatterman) March 5, 2020
Reality: The left have gone so far-left they now believe a socialist to be a centrist https://t.co/Ua5w77hpk1
— Chris (@ChrisLXXXVI) March 5, 2020
The “corrected” version places Jeb Bush at the far right, and Mitch McConnell even farther. Consider who the farthest-left commonly acknowledged figures are: Mao, Stalin, etc.
“Mao and Stain are the equivalent of Jeb Bush and Mitch McConnell.” That’s the quality of insight here. https://t.co/hxI9WDzYm3
— The End Times (@TheAgeofShoddy) March 5, 2020
Kind of disturbing that a professor of psychology has such a warped understanding of reality. https://t.co/WQDC43jBsB
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) March 5, 2020
Increasingly getting around to the idea that academia is the safest place to warehouse moderately intelligent people with looney tunes views.
— Avi Woolf, Wilderness Conservative? (@AviWoolf) March 5, 2020
She must be of the REAL communism or socialism haven't been tried yet school.
— righty64 (@righty64) March 5, 2020
— &E (@DrewPaulE) March 5, 2020
Her type always leaves the far right placeholder for whomever the Republicans support for president. She would have put Bush there 12 years ago, Romney there 8 years ago. This is just a map of her confirmation bias.
— The O Line (@facetwitch) March 5, 2020
Imagine being this delusional. https://t.co/xWkL7u85Dr
— Daddy Warpig (@DaddyWarpig) March 5, 2020
There it is. The dumbest graphic I’ve ever seen in my life. https://t.co/2t4nvLpNl9
— caymen (@caymenbishop) March 5, 2020
This is demonstrably false. In fact, the exact opposite is true.
— James Stewart (@_james_stewart) March 5, 2020
Ah yes, a communist is "center". pic.twitter.com/t9J5fUertm
— Owningsuperset7 (@owningsuperset7) March 4, 2020
There it is. The dumbest thing I’ll see today and it’s only 8:15!
— jsparker3 (@jsparker31) March 5, 2020
It only looks that way if you’re a raging Marxist.
— No not that Jay (@jasonmpage) March 5, 2020
This is what meant by "the Overton Window shifting left". When a socialist is considered a centrist then no wonder Stalinism is considered "moderate" and half the country are considered "Nazis".
— ❌I’ve Got Grapes???️??️⚧️❌ (@SwitchAtoll) March 5, 2020
If you believe Bernie Sanders is anywhere near the center you have no concept of reality. Maybe in whatever corner of the big apple praising Castro and China and communism is cool but not anywhere else.
— Loren (@LorenSethC) March 5, 2020
“Bernie’s not far left cuz there is even crazier people in Europe” is always one of my favorite tales.
— Insert25¢ (@insert25c) March 5, 2020
— Vegas Odd (@VegasOdd) March 4, 2020
This is a terrible take.
— Technoviking (@LLeanuna) March 5, 2020
A gentle reminder of how warped college professors are.
— Adeptus Archer 17% Adorable 와플 감자 튀김 (@ArcherMint) March 5, 2020
And there are members of Congress who would look at this graph and agree wholeheartedly. We don’t even think Bernie Sanders would call himself a centrist.
Related:
VIP » Criminology professor says ‘Paw Patrol’ ignores structural barriers in our society, encourages capitalism https://t.co/bKWc2HUnVt
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 11, 2020
Join the conversation as a VIP Member