Bernie Sanders said people who refuse to vote for black candidates aren't racist and people are furious

Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders is known for not shying away from an issue.

Though, after his latest intervention into the issue of race in America, maybe it’s best he kept his mouth shut sometimes.

Sanders was forced to clarify controversial comments he made in an interview that many viewed as “excusing racism”.

Speaking to the Daily Beast, Sanders was asked about the unsuccessful midterm contests of black Democrats Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams. Both lost their races by under one per cent. Sanders responded that people who have reservations voting for a person of colour on the basis of race as “not necessarily racist”.

He said:

I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American

I think next time around by the way it will be a lot easier for them to do that.

Sanders added that Gillum is “a fantastic politician” who “ran a great campaign” and “had to take on some of the most blatant and ugly racism that we have seen in many many years”.

Twitter users pointed out that refusing to vote for someone based on race is an example of blatant racism.

Though some people stated that while his remarks were in good faith, his comment is still wrong and sends out the wrong message. Nevertheless, Bernie released a statement to clarify his comments.

H/T: DailyDot