Spike Lee to SC: 'Wake Up,' Vote for Bernie

Director says in radio ad that Sanders 'will do the right thing'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 23, 2016 9:47 AM CST
Spike Lee to SC: 'Wake Up,' Vote for Bernie
Director Spike Lee arrives for a photocall for his film "Chi-Raq" at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin on Feb. 16, 2016.   (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt)

Just a few days ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders has gained a noteworthy endorsement, the Hill reports. "Wake up, South Carolina!" director Spike Lee says in a one-minute radio spot that started playing Tuesday across the state, in which Hillary Clinton appears to be leading among black voters, per CNN. "I know that you know this system is rigged. For too long we've given our votes to corporate puppets." He notes that "99 percent of Americans were hurt" during the Great Recession and "that's why I'm officially endorsing my brother Bernie Sanders," who "takes no money from corporations … which means he is not on the take."

"And when Bernie gets in the White House he will do the right thing," Lee adds. How can Lee be so sure? He offers Sanders' participation in the 1963 March on Washington with MLK, his arrest in Chicago that same year for protesting segregation, and his fight against "wealth and education equality for his whole career" as proof that with Sanders, there will be "no flipping, no flopping." Listen to the ad here. (Lee has also said that Donald Trump can't be trusted as president and that "I don't want Trump anywhere near" America's nuclear codes.)

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