Did Bernie Sanders tell an audience that he thinks "black people smell"? No, that's not true: A video of Sanders on a local cable access show when he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in the 1980s includes the future senator and presidential candidate talking to an audience about the history of racial stereotypes. His comments have been re-edited and taken out of context in social media posts claiming that Sanders is a racist.
One example of the claim was in a video (archived here) published on YouTube on February 21, 2020, under the title "The real Bernie Sanders - saying Black People Smell - 2020 election Racist Bernie Sanders". The description read:
Not for Children under 17 not suitable for Children, Bernie Sanders racist comments
This is what the video looked like on YouTube:
This video was crudely manipulated to make it appear that Sanders - who is Jewish - was sharing his own opinion about blacks, Jews, and the Irish. It leaves out the context:
"That Black people smell. Alright, what about Jewish people? What's their thing? How are they different from other people? Their religious beliefs were different, but also they were greedy and selfish people, also had strange habits and so forth and so on. What does everybody know about the Irish? They get in fights because they get drunk. All the Irish people do is drink. That's the Irish. All Italians are gangsters and Irish are drunk and Jews are greedy and black people smell. Okay?"
The original video revealed Sanders was leading a school class in a discussion about the history of racial stereotypes:
"When I was a young person, what we learned is that black people smell. Alright, what about Jewish people? What's their thing? How are they different from other people? Their religious beliefs were different, but also they were greedy and selfish people, also had strange habits and so forth and so on. What does everybody know about the Irish? They get in fights because they get drunk. All the Irish people do is drink. That's the Irish. All Italians are gangsters and Irish are drunk and Jews are greedy and black people smell. Okay?"
The video was part of an archival release by the Burlington, Vermont, cable company that produced the mayor's show. Here is the full show from where the comments were taken:
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah did a comedy segment on the videos soon after they were released in May 2019:
Here are several other recent debunk articles about false claims concerning Bernie Sanders:
- Fact Check: Bernie Sanders Did NOT Say Undocumented 'Entitled' to Same Government Benefits As U.S. Citizens
- Fake News: Bernie Sanders Did NOT Say He Wants To Raise Taxes To 52% On Anybody Making Over $29,000
- Fake News: Bernie Sanders Does NOT Return $18.53 To Mike Bloomberg
- Fake News: NOT The Bernie Bros
- Fake News: Bernie Sanders Is NOT Seeking Medical Release From Life Sentence In Prison
- Fake News: UCLA Student Did NOT Donate College Fund to Bernie Sanders' Campaign
- Bernie Sanders At Dem Debate Did NOT Say The Planet Only Has '8 or 9 Years' Before Major Cities Go Underwater
- Fake News: Student Bernie Sanders NOT Arrested For Throwing Eggs At Black Protesters In 1964
