Spike Lee Endorses Bernie Sanders in a Radio Ad: ‘Wake Up, South Carolina!’

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is trying to wrangle the black vote in South Carolina for the upcoming Democratic primaries Feb. 27. Suggested Reading Post #3 6-18-2025 Post #2 6-18-2025 Post #1 6-16-2025 Video will return here when scrolled back into view To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser…

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is trying to wrangle the black vote in South Carolina for the upcoming Democratic primaries Feb. 27.

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He enlisted the help of director and activist Spike Lee. On Tuesday the Sanders campaign released a radio ad in which Lee announces that he’s officially endorsing his “main man Bernie Sanders,” the New York Times reports

“Wake up. Wake up, South Carolina!” Lee begins—an ode to the famous lines from his iconic film Do the Right Thing. 

“Bernie takes no money from corporations. Nada. Which means he don’t owe nobody nothing. When he gets into the White House, he will do the right thing,” Lee argued. 

Lee spoke highly about Sanders’ civil rights record, a sign that he’s signaling to black South Carolinians.

“Let’s go to the tale of the tape. Marched with Dr. King. Arrested in Chicago for protesting segregation in Chicago’s public schools. Fought for wealth and education equality throughout his entire career. Consistency, people. No flip-flop,” Lee said. 

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Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele is a staff writer at The Root and the founder and executive producer of Lectures to Beats, a Web series that features video interviews with scarily insightful people. Follow Lectures to Beats on Facebook and Twitter.

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