Elizabeth Warren blamed for Bernie Sanders disappointment after ‘splitting vote’

Progressive senator failed to win a single Super Tuesday state – including her own

As Elizabeth Warren reflects on her poor performance on Super Tuesday, some on the left are blaming her for supposedly splitting the progressive vote and hurting Bernie Sanders.

Writing on Twitter, left-wing congresswoman Ilhan Omar said: “Imagine if the progressives consolidated last night like the moderates consolidated, who would have won?”

Writer and journalist Naomi Klein added her call to unite behind Mr Sanders, saying: "If you have a cultural platform and you haven't used it yet to help Bernie, now is the time to use it shift the balance of power back to decency.

"Lord knows our opponents use every platforms they have. Don't wait for an invitation."

As pundits such as NBC's Chuck Todd made the case that Ms Warren had cost Mr Sanders Massachusetts in particular, New York magazine's Sarah Jones re-shared an article entitled "The most progressive thing Warren can do is leave the race", saying "this held up".

Responding to a memo from the Warren campaign saying she would stay in the race for at least another week, Sana Saeed deemed it “embarrassing. Warren is staying to split the progressive vote.”

“We split the vote between Bernie and Warren,” wrote comedian Andy Haynes, “and now we get a malfunctioning ATM machine possessed by a touchy softball coach’s ghost for a nominee. Hope you like four more years of this.”

However, others argued that Ms Warren had made far a significant contribution to the race, and one that progressives should applaud her for.

Referring to her stinging attacks on billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who also performed poorly on the night, journalist Wajahat Ali said that “Elizabeth Warren killed Mike Bloomberg so democracy could live. Give the woman her respect.”

Ms Warren, who was once considered a leading candidate, suffered a terrible night on Super Tuesday. She failed to win a single state, placed fourth in most others, and even came third in her home state of Massachusetts.

Tensions between her campaign and Mr Sanders’ have been building for some time. Some of his supporters have been accused of aggressive online behaviour towards her, while she publicly claimed that he once told her a woman could not beat Donald Trump.

Many supporters of Mr Sanders are now smarting after he lost to Joe Biden in all but a few states, having been considered the near-unbeatable frontrunner only days before.

Mr Biden benefited from last-minute endorsements from fellow “moderate” candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, leading some on the left to complain of an establishment stitch-up.

In a now-deleted tweet, Sanders backer and former candidate Marianne Williamson wrote that Mr Biden’s “resurrection” was “not a resurrection; it was a coup … what happened yesterday was a coup. And we will push it back.”