A number of prominent creatives and artists have declared their support for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party primary that decides who will face Donald Trump in November’s US elections.
The 78-year-old Vermont representative has been backed by influential people from the industry such as Kara Walker, Nan Goldin, M.I.A, Ed Atkins, Parker Ito, Hito Steyeri and hundreds more; the number of signatories currently stands at over 665 people.
An open letter from Artists4Bernie states that they feel Sanders is “the only candidate we believe can unseat Donald Trump.” As well as a focus on toppling the current president, the collective also identifies with Sander’s core values too, stating that, “Bernie Sanders' foreign and international policies are the most progressive compared to other candidates.”
A key point made by Artists4Bernie is that they feel that everyone should have a voice on this, not just Americans. This is due to the fact that America has such an influence on the rest of the world in areas like the economy and the environment. Regarding the latter, the group feels that Sanders and his supporters “have the best ideas and blueprints for dealing with what the entire planet imminently faces”.
Other important areas for the group include conflict, around which they hail Sanders as “a true peace candidate in this time of permanent war”.
Sanders' liberal political views do not just echo those of many people involved in arts and culture, but he himself has also been an outspoken champion of the arts too, with the open letter citing a particularly evocative speech of his: “You have my promise that as president, I will be an arts president,” he said. “I will continue to advocate strongly for robust funding of the arts in our cities, schools and public spaces. Art is speech. Art is what life is about.”
Bernie Sanders is an early leader in the race, the results of which will be announced at the Democratic Party National Convention in June.
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Charlie joined It’s Nice That as an editorial assistant in December 2019. He has previously worked at Monocle 24, and The Times following an MA in International Journalism at City University. If you have any ideas for stories and work to be featured then get in touch.