Samantha Bee urges Bernie Sanders fans to tone down rhetoric

Samantha Bee tells Bernie Sanders supporters to tone down their attacks on Hillary Clinton

Samantha Bee spent a good portion of a recent episode of Full Frontal explaining and defending the Democrats’ superdelegates system in response to charges from Bernie Sanders and his supporters that the process is unfair. But on Monday’s installment, the host called out the presidential candidate’s hypocrisy for now courting the superdelegates, and requested that his ardent fans temper their rhetoric toward his rival and presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton, for the sake of the party.

Bee began by explaining that Sanders faces a “steep uphill climb for the nomination” after losing to Clinton in New York by almost 300,000 votes, but “unfortunately there’s no electric stair lift in sight to help him out.” However, his campaign manager Jeff Weaver has a plan to victory that involves getting the superdelegates that are currently pledged to Clinton over to Sanders’ side before the convention.

“In case you missed our explanation two weeks ago, superdelegates are an establishment plot hatched by Bill and Hillary in 1982 to steal an election 34 years later,” Bee joked.

She then mocked the Sanders campaign for changing their stance on superdelegates, charging that they’re now using the system “to subvert the will of the voter” when they were previously against it, questioning whether it’s good or bad depending on who’s doing it, “kind of like Purple Rain covers or oral sex.”

While Bee conceded that he has every right to stay in the race until it gets to California, she implored his supporters to “dial down the rhetoric to mild loathing” and not demonize anyone, before showing a Fox News clip of Sanders backers calling Clinton the devil, stating that they’re “Bernie or Bust” – meaning they won’t vote for Clinton if she’s the nominee – and calling for a revolution if he loses. While Bee respected his supporters’ enthusiasm and passion, she floated the idea of taking one to Damascus to see how quickly he “sh*ts his pants at the sight of an actual revolution.”

However she didn’t let Clinton voters off the hook either, reminding viewers that some of her backers – who referred to themselves as PUMAs – didn’t take her loss very well in 2008, with one supporter calling then-Sen. Obama “an inadequate black male.” Bee closed the segment by using Clinton’s own words against her, agreeing that Democrats are united by at least one thing: “Namely throwing a tantrum when they don’t get their way.”

Watch the entire clip here:

Next: Watch Samantha Bee meet with Bernie Sanders supporters

Bee’s suggestions follow Democratic Party officials’ requests that both candidates tone down their rhetoric as they head to the end of primary season to avoid a split that’s seen on the Republican side between front-runner Donald Trump and the Never Trump factions. Although Sanders’ fans are still holding out hope that he can somehow get the nomination, the delegate math is difficult for him going forward, with even the candidate admitting that it will be a difficult task to get superdelegates to switch sides, but he has still pledged to forge ahead to the delegate-rich California primary and all the way until the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July. Although Clinton’s path to the nomination now looks more secure, she needs to unite the party and get a good portion of Sanders supporters to turn out for her come November instead of staying home or voting third party, which could prove a difficult task.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee airs Mondays at 10:30 p.m. on TBS.