An 8-Hour Bernie Sanders Speech Is Now a Lo-Fi Beat

Update: VICE has been informed that a separate Bernie filibuster with lo-fi beats was created ten days earlier. The creator of this video, Kenton deAngeli, said, "I actually believe the other artist did come to this idea separately. It kind of mashes up two very popular things, Sander and lo-fi beats to chill/study to, and if there's anything I know about contemporary culture, if there are two popular things, they are going to get mashed up fairly quickly." In December 2010, at the nice age of 69 years old, Senator Bernie Sanders delivered an 8.5 hour speech on the Senate floor, which he used to express his concern with a tax cut deal that then-President Obama struck with congressional Republicans, as it extended the Bush-era tax cuts for some of the country’s wealthiest people.

Almost ten years later, the filibuster has been given the lo-fi-chill-beats-to-study-to-treatment, for some reason. Though the beats are lo-fi, the sentiments of Sanders are far from relaxing; he is making the same statements that we hear from the presidential candidate today: the rich want to get richer, the middle class is shrinking, Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profit in 2009 and yet paid nothing in taxes, for example.

The YouTube comments show that many people are compelled by Sanders’s anger over some lo-fi chill beats. “G I V E I L H A N O M A R A G U N D A M” said one. “When you wanna chill but lowkey political on the side …” said another. “Our next president slaps omfg” wrote one hopeful viewer.

The creator of the video, Justin Langan, aka “Mojoblitz,” describes himself online as simply “a dude from Canada.” In an email to VICE, he said he is a "21-year-old Indigenous (Métis) Youth Leader from Manitoba," who works as a freelance filmmaker.

“What really inspired me to make the video was looking at how Bernie's message has resonated with so many young people not only in America, but Canada as well. I noticed how adding so much as a lo-fi beat to something as, honestly boring as C-SPAN, can make an 8 1/2 hour filibuster so much more palatable.”

Langan said he’s listened to the entire recording, agreeing with VICE’s description of the video being “oddly relaxing,” adding “especially when chilling in bed.”

“I've been following Bernie Sanders since 2015,” Langan said. “His message has resonated with me so much. To a Canadian, his ideas on healthcare are anything but radical. What I find most compelling about him is his anti-establishment stance and that he doesn't accept handouts from billionaires, it shows how true his character is.”

Langan describes the response to the video as “kind of unbelievable,” as he’s shocked how people seem to be enjoying it, unironically.

“On the surface, it's just a silly meme, but once you start listening there is so much more to it.”