Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) backer Nomiki Konst lambasted Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign on Monday for trying to "shame" Sanders supporters into voting for the former secretary of state through a pro-Clinton super PAC that is buying $1 million in "internet trolls" to launch attacks against them.
Appearing on CNN with host Carol Costello, Konst described how Correct the Record, a PAC that defends Clinton from political attacks, has undergone a campaign to counter Sanders voters on the internet and over social media.
"Correct the Record, which is an organization that supports Hillary Clinton in ‘correcting the record’ on Hillary Clinton, just put a million dollars more into, and they published this on their website, they put a million dollars into buying internet trolls to attack Bernie Sanders supporters," Konst told Costello.
"I mean I’ve been getting them," Konst added. "This is outrageous. They are trying to create their own propaganda campaign right now to take down Bernie Sanders supporters online ... This is what this [Clinton] campaign has come to. They’re trying to shame Bernie Sanders supporters into supporting Hillary Clinton. And I think that‘s a bad campaign tactic."
Konst also noted how Correct the Record publicized its "Barrier Breakers" project on its website and that multiple media outlets have reported on the story.
The initiative calls for the investment of $1 million "to engage in online messaging both for Secretary Clinton and to push back against attackers on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram,"according to the organization’s press release, which calls the project the "brainchild" of Democratic operative David Brock.
The effort will draw on "lessons learned from online engagement with ‘Bernie Bros,’"male Sanders supporters who aggressively advocate for the Vermont Senator online.
Correct the Record can openly coordinate with the Clinton campaign due to FEC loopholes, despite rules that generally forbid PACS and campaigns from directly working together, according to The Daily Beast, one outlet that has reported on the "Barrier Breakers" project.
The Sanders campaign criticized the $1 million push, with campaign rapid response director Mike Casca saying, "Our campaign and our vendors are not paying people to reply to anti-Bernie comments on social media. Come on man, really?"
Nomiki brought up the Correct the Record project after Costello asked her why actress and Sanders supporter Rosario Dawson brought up Monica Lewinsky at a rally last week while criticizing what she called bullying carried out by the Clintons.
Sanders did not condemn Rosario’s comments or say if Lewinsky is off limits on the campaign trail during an interview on Sunday.