Bernie Sanders Got Slammed by Twitter for His Mental Health Comment at Sunday's Debate

At Sunday night's Democratic debate, Bernie Sanders tried to take a stand on mental health and knock Republicans in the same breath — and it didn't seem to go as planned.

After Hillary Clinton urged voters to "compare the substance of this debate to what you saw on the Republican stage last week," Sanders tried to piggyback onto her scorn, but ended up ruffling the wrong feathers.

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"You know, we are, if elected president, going to invest a lot of money into mental health," Sanders said. "And when you watch these Republican debates, you know why we need to invest in that."

On Twitter, those struggling with mental health pointed out exactly why Sanders' joke was inappropriate: 

Others added that Sanders' statement perpetuates the harmful stigma surrounding people with mental health problems. 

And ultimately, Sanders distracted from a meaningful message on why the government should be focusing on mental health at all — a point he once made without a hitch at a debate in January.

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