PHILADELPHIA — Many in media praised Sarah Silverman’s address this week at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, even though the her appearance was marked by awkward moments, long pauses and heckling.
The comedian’s speech alongside Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., Monday evening went south as the two of them pitched DNC delegates on the idea of uniting behind presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., were not thrilled, and they made their displeasure known to the DNC speakers.
Silverman, who supported the Vermont lawmaker during the Democratic primaries, tried to calm the jeers as she and Franken floundered on live television with improvised banter. However, she soon ran out of material, and said into the microphone, “To the Bernie-or-bust people, you’re being ridiculous.”
The booing did not subside. Franken and Silverman forced one last joke, and then exited the stage to make way for musician Paul Simon.
Booing and floundering aside, Silverman’s brief quip to Sanders’ “ridiculous” supporters showed she is now a “powerful political force,” according to the Post’s Emily Heil, who writes for the paper’s beltway gossip blog.
“Former Sanders supporter Silverman, clearly enlisted to help convince her fellow Bernie-ites to get on board, had what might have been the evening’s most direct message,” she wrote in a post titled “Sarah Silverman’s rebuke to the Bernie-or-bust crowd shows she’s a powerful political force.”
“Silverman has proved to be an effective political messenger,” she added.
Heil bolstered this claim by noting a video that Silverman produced in 2008 wherein she “encouraged young Jews to visit their elderly grandparents living in the swing state of Florida and convince them to vote for Obama.”
“Her support was effective,” the Post columnist added.
Heil is not alone in her praise for Silverman’s DNC performance.
“It was a mic drop of epic political proportions,” wrote the Kansas City Star’s Lisa Gutierrez, adding that Silverman also “won” Twitter with the comment.
The Huffington Post’s Paige Lavender referred to the “you’re being ridiculous” moment as a “strong message” to the Sanders contingent of the DNC.
