Sarah Silverman, Al Franken Fail to Laugh Off Anti-Hillary Chants of 'Bernie!'

Elliot Polsky | July 26, 2016
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Comedian Sarah Silverman came to the DNC convention in Philadelphia Tuesday to win fellow Bernie Sanders supporters over to the presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.

When she started her speech by announcing that she was a Bernie supporter, she was met with explosive cheers. Those cheers turned to boos when it became evident that Silverman was about to endorse Hillary.

After touting Bernie’s contributions to the Democratic Party platform, Silverman said, “and all it takes to accomplish this is everyone, is all of us, or—as a pretty kick-ass woman [Hillary] once said—‘it takes a village.’” This first peripheral reference to Hillary was met with cheers.

Silverman went on to denounce Trump for calling people names by calling him a “third grader” who wasn’t touched enough.

She then began her endorsement of Hillary, saying, “Hillary heard the passion of the people.” This time boos gradually mounted.

Former comedian Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) came up to try to save the day. “Gee that was good, Sarah,” he said, evidently not hearing the screams and boos from the audience.

As it became clear that the audience wasn’t cheering, but booing, Franken started chanting, “Hillary” to cover up the “Bernie” chants. Silverman almost simultaneously jumped to the chant, “Unity” to accomplish the same end.

Franken and Silverman’s conflicting interpretations of the “Bernie” chant forced them to acknowledge the elephant in the room: Bernie supporters weren’t okay with Silverman’s endorsement of Hillary.

So, Silverman resorted to name-calling. “Can I just say to the Bernie-or-bust people, ‘You’re being ridiculous.’” That comment was met with both cheers, boos, and finally a clear, unhindered “Bernie” chant.

“Thank God they can fix this in post,” Silverman joked. From then on, Silverman and Franken attempted a half-hearted cover-up, awkwardly improvising a joke about how they were a “bridge” between Bernie and Hillary.

Franken accidentally almost acknowledged there was something wrong, some division in the room. He described Sarah and himself as a bridge “over troubled…” Silverman cut him off, saying, “Oh good lord.”

Silverman’s awkward speech ended to a chant of “Bull s--t” as she announced to the audience that Paul Simon was finally ready to perform.

 

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