Comedian Sarah Silverman was left red-faced at the Democratic National Convention today as part of the crowd turned on her.
Comedian Sarah Silverman was left red-faced at the Democratic National Convention today as part of the crowd turned on her.
Silverman, who was a Bernie Sanders supporter during the Democratic primaries, created a horrendously awkward moment as she tried to convince his fans to get behind Hillary Clinton's nomination.
"I'mSarah Silverman and this past year I've been feeling the Bern," she said, to an almighty cheer from the crowd. Nice start.
"Relax, I put some cream on it.
"As some of you may know, I support Bernie Sanders and the movement behind him. And Bernie's already succeeded in so many ways.
"Not only did Bernie wake us up, he made us understand what is possible and what we deserve."
So far, so good. Silverman went on to feed the crowd a healthy dose of Trump bashing.
"This Democratic primary was exemplary. No name-calling, no comments about the size of candidates' hands or ethnicity or how much they sweat or if they go to the bathroom. Inside secret: they do.
"That stuff is for third-graders, come on. That's like major arrested development stuff, that's 'I'm still emotionally four and calling other people names from my golden-crusted sandbox because I was given money instead of human touch or coping tools' stuff. But I digress.
"Hillary heard the passion of the people. The people behind Bernie. And brought those passions into the party's platform. And that is the process of democracy at its very best, and it's very cool to see."
You can see the argument Silverman was building: yes, Sanders lost the nomination to Clinton, but he gained so much influence that it counted as a victory anyway. As the comedian soon discovered, the Sanders faction in the audience wasn't buying it.
"Hillary is our Democratic nominee and I will proudly vote for her," she went on, to cries of protest from one half of the crowd and a standing ovation from the other.
"I will vote for Hillary with gusto as I continue to be inspired and moved to action by the ideals set forth by Bernie, who will never stop fighting for us.
"I am proud to be part of Bernie's movement, and part of that movement is making absolutely sure that Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States."
At that point, her speech was supposed to finish. But the next person on the agenda - musician Paul Simon - wasn't ready, and she had to play for time in front of a fired up crowd.
"Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!" Sanders' fans chanted, as Senator Al Franken joined Silverman on stage to help. "Unity! Unity! Unity!" she responded from the podium. Then she lost her patience.
Comedian/actress Sarah Silverman speaks as Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) looks on. Photo / Getty Images
"Can I just say, to the 'Bernie or Bust' people, you're being ridiculous. They told us to stretch, so I figured I'd add that."
The Sanders supporters responded with boos, and kept chanting. Franken and Silverman were left speechless on stage for another agonising minute, trying to come up with a way to fill the awkward silence.
"We're like a ... we're like a bridge," Franken finally managed. "You were for Bernie. I'm for Hillary. So we're like a bridge ... over troubled ..."
"Oh good lord," Silverman interrupted, clearly unimpressed by his weak attempt at a joke.
Before things got any worse, Franken and Silverman finally received the news that Paul Simon was ready to take the stage. They both looked pretty keen to vacate it.
