Bernie Sanders’s former press secretary tells supporters they weren’t cheated

To many, emails leaked this week from the DNC showing clear bias against Bernie Sanders among party officials only proves what many had suspected for a long time: that the race was rigged from the get-go against the Vermont senator.

But Symone D. Sanders, the campaign’s former national press secretary, took to Twitter last night during the Democratic Convention to say, “we lost . . . the system didn’t cheat us.”

Look, people are well within their rights to have passions and opinions. That is how we create change in this country. We need the passion!!

— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) July 25, 2016

But let me be clear – NO ONE STOLE THIS ELECTION! Team Sanders we did AMAZING WORK. But we lost. It’s a hard reality for some.

— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) July 25, 2016

It was a hard reality for me. Because I fought hard. Now, we won some great battles, but the reality is the system didn’t cheat us.

— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) July 25, 2016

Symone Sanders’s point, it seems, wasn’t just to scold. Echoing Bernie’s DNC speech urging his followers to head to the polls in November to keep Trump out of the White House, the former staffer did her best to channel that frustration into political action. 

So…lets take the passion and fervor and yes anger some feel and resolve to do all we can to contribute to making our party better.

— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) July 25, 2016

Leading an organization through crisis or defeat is a real test of leadership—one that both Sanderses (the candidate and the staffer) showed themselves ready to take on last night.

h/t Mother Jones