--- title: Bernie Sanders Gets Spike Lee's Endorsement for President description: Spike Lee endorsed Bernie Sanders for president on Tuesday in a radio spot that will air in South Carolina ahead of Saturday's primary canonical: https://time.com/4233631/spike-lee-bernie-sanders-endorsement/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-23T14:42:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:17:27.237Z article:section: Politics og:title: Spike Lee Endorses Bernie Sanders for President og:description: "When Bernie gets in the White House, he will do the right thing" og:url: https://time.com/4233631/spike-lee-bernie-sanders-endorsement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3966b63412185b1/69887ea2f887dc8024e94bbc/spike-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'Chi-Raq' Press Conference - 66th Berlinale International Film Festival og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Spike Lee Endorses Bernie Sanders for President twitter:description: "When Bernie gets in the White House, he will do the right thing" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3966b63412185b1/69887ea2f887dc8024e94bbc/spike-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Spike Lee Endorses Bernie Sanders for President  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 23, 2016 2:42 PM UTC  Director Spike Lee attends the 'Chi-Raq' press conference during the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin at Grand Hyatt Hotel on Feb. 16, in Berlin, Germany. Director Spike Lee attends the 'Chi-Raq' press conference during the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin at Grand Hyatt Hotel on Feb. 16, in Berlin, Germany.Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 23, 2016 2:42 PM UTC Filmmaker Spike Lee endorsed Bernie Sanders for president on Tuesday in a [radio spot](https://soundcloud.com/bernie%5Fsanders/wake-up) that will air in South Carolina ahead of Saturday’s Democratic primary in the state. “Wake up, South Carolina. This is your dude, Spike Lee. And I know that you know the system is rigged,” he says in the post. “For too long we’ve given our votes to corporate puppets. Sold the okie-doke. Ninety-nine percent of Americans were hurt by the Great Recession of 2008, and many are still recovering.” Lee endorsed President Barack Obama in his 2008 and 2012 campaigns. His endorsement of Sanders comes as the Vermont Senator has [sought to court black voters](http://time.com/4226723/bernie-sanders-black-voters-south-carolina/), who make up a significant portion of Democratic primary voters in South Carolina. Sanders’ opponent Hillary Clinton has [held an edge](http://time.com/4231196/south-carolina-jim-clyburn-hillary-clinton/) among minority voters. “When Bernie gets in the White House, he will do the right thing,” Lee says in the ad, referencing the 1989 film he directed. “How can we be sure? Bernie was at the March on Washington with Dr. King. He was [arrested in Chicago for protesting segregation](http://time.com/4231439/bernie-sanders-arrest-photo-civil-rights/) in public schools.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4233631/spike-lee-bernie-sanders-endorsement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4233631/spike-lee-bernie-sanders-endorsement/"},"headline":"Spike Lee Endorses Bernie Sanders for President","datePublished":"2016-02-23T14:42:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:17:27.237Z","description":"\"When Bernie gets in the White House, he will do the right thing\"","url":"https://time.com/4233631/spike-lee-bernie-sanders-endorsement/","keywords":["Bernie Sanders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3966b63412185b1/69887ea2f887dc8024e94bbc/spike-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3966b63412185b1/69887ea2f887dc8024e94bbc/spike-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"'Chi-Raq' Press Conference - 66th Berlinale International Film Festival","caption":"'Chi-Raq' Press Conference - 66th Berlinale International Film Festival","creditText":"Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/bernie-sanders/","name":"Bernie Sanders"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4233631/spike-lee-bernie-sanders-endorsement/","name":"Spike Lee Endorses Bernie Sanders for President"}}]}] ```