#NoMiddleGround Goes Viral as Sanders Backers Say Democrats Can't Afford to Compromise on Medicare for All, Reproductive Rights, and Bold Climate Agenda

Inspired by Sen. Bernie Sanders’s speech at the California Democratic Convention in California—in which the 2020 contender took a thinly veiled shot at fellow White House hopeful Joe Biden’s centrist policy approach—progressives made the Twitter hashtag #NoMiddleGround go viral on Sunday in an effort to make clear that there can be no compromises when it comes to confronting the global climate crisis, providing healthcare to all as a right, and battling inequality.

“We have got to make it clear that when the future of the planet is at stake, there is no ‘middle ground,'” Sanders said, in a clear reference to Biden’s reported middle-of-the-road climate agenda. “We will take on the fossil fuel industry and transform our energy system.”

“When it comes to healthcare, there is no middle ground,” Sanders continued. “When it comes to abortion, there is no middle ground. When it comes to mass shootings and the fact that 40,000 people were killed last year with guns, no middle ground.”

The Vermont senator’s remarks inspired a flood of tweets from his supporters and other progressives, who expressed enthusiastic agreement with Sanders’s call for an uncompromising approach to the most pressing crises facing the United States and the planet.