Bernie or Bust

Bernie or Bust (also expressed with the hashtag #BernieorBust) refers to the sentiment held by many supporters of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders in the 2016 United States presidential election who do not plan to vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and who may be considering leaving the Democratic Party altogether. The Bernie or Bust movement has been criticized by neoliberals and as aiding Donald Trump to win the election.
The Bernie or Bust movement generally stems from voter distrust of the Democratic Party establishment and the party's primary system, long accusing the party of bias toward Hillary Clinton since about December 2015, culminating in leaked emails just prior to the 2016 Democratic National Convention (which potentially revealed bias against Sanders, seemingly confirming Sanders supporters' doubts). In an interview with CNN, activist YanNe' Ndgo explained that the movement stems not as much from admiration for Sanders, but from distrust of Clinton, explaining "We don’t trust what she says and we don’t like what she’s done".
However, a poll by Quinnipiac University revealed that 75% of Sanders supporters during the primary election would in fact rally behind Clinton if she were to become the Democratic Party's nominee. A McClatchy-Marist poll had similar findings, claiming that 1 in 4 Sanders supporters would not back Clinton.
On July 12, 2016, Sanders formally endorsed Clinton at a rally in New Hampshire, and while he has not formally ended his campaign the move has been seen as the final step towards doing so. The announcement saw many of the threats from voters to leave the party enacted, and has been seen by some as partly responsible for the rise in support for Green candidate Jill Stein's 2016 campaign, which had previously advertised itself as 'Plan B for Bernie'.
In her speech during the 2016 Democratic National Convention, comedian Sarah Silverman urged other Sanders supporters to back Hillary Clinton and later said that Bernie or Bust people are "being ridiculous."

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