Fact Check

Bernie Sanders Suggests Election Is Rigged, Unendorses Hillary Clinton

A post on Bernie Sanders' Facebook page did not suggest he believes the presidential election is "rigged" or indicate he was "unendorsing" Hillary Clinton.

Published Oct. 18, 2016

Claim:
Sen. Bernie Sanders said the election was "rigged" and "unendorsed" Hillary Clinton
What's True

Bernie Sanders made a Facebook post in which he criticized a "political system in which a handful of very wealthy people and special interests will determine who gets elected."

What's False

Sanders did not rescind his endorsement of Hillary Clinton and has continued urging his supporters to vote for her.

On 17 October 2016, the disreputable YourNewsWire.com web site posted an article claiming that Vermont senator Bernie Sanders had "suggested that the Presidential election may be rigged, and has unendorsed Hillary Clinton":

In an unexpected announcement Bernie Sanders has suggested that the Presidential election may be rigged, and has unendorsed Hillary Clinton.

In a cryptic Facebook message, Sanders warned American citizens of a rigged system and criticised the overly powerful elite who run it.

Senator Sanders did issue a Facebook post on the previous day (16 October 2016), but it didn't at all say what YourNewsWire.com misleadingly claimed of it:

Sanders wasn't suggesting that elections are "rigged" (i.e., that voters are suppressed, that votes are cast fraudulently, that votes are not counted accurately); rather, he was decrying the pervasive role money plays in shaping the political process and influencing which candidates are elected, a major plank of his platform as a presidential candidate (and referencing Abraham Lincoln in what many readers construed as a callback to the second presidential debate of 2016). But Sanders did not opine "that the Presidential election may be rigged," nor did he "unendorse" Hillary Clinton.

On and after 16 October 2016, Sanders has continued to tweet and share content promoting Hillary Clinton's candidacy:

Not only hasn't Sanders "unendorsed" Hillary Clinton (nor said the election is "rigged"), he has belied that claim by continuing to publicly promote her candidacy.

Sources

Shalby, Colleen.   "Watch Trump and Clinton Argue About Abraham Lincoln at the Debate."     Los Angeles Times.   9 October 2016.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.