In the wake of Bernie Sander’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, July 12, 2016, many Bernie supporters and independents alike have taken to social media accusing him of being a sellout. It is something that anyone could and should have seen coming, but is it justified? Hell no! To say that Bernie Sanders is a sellout is disrespecting the record of one of the best and most progressive senators in United States history. I don’t have to defend him on the subject because his record speaks for itself, but I will do my best to do just that.

Yes, Bernie Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton this week, but that doesn’t make him a sellout. The man fought tooth and nail for a more progressive Democratic Party platform and, for the most part, succeeded. For example, Dr. Cornel West, among other Bernie supporters, was named to the Democratic Platform Committee, which shapes everything the Democratic Party fights for. This can be credited to the many American progressives who fought for this, but it should also be credited towards Bernie Sanders who had many meetings with the Hillary Camp and the DNC. He stayed in the race up to this point not to become the nominee, but to continue pushing for his progressive policies and positions.

The people who are criticizing Bernie Sanders for his endorsement of Hillary Clinton say that he has sold out because he abandoned his progressive policies to endorse the lesser of two evils. But allow me to ask, what else was there for Bernie Sanders to do? Because of a rigged political system that denied many independents the right to vote in the primary, Bernie lost and Hillary did get the majority of the Democratic vote. It made sense for him to stay in up to this point because of the possible indictment of Hillary Clinton. But the FBI director made the decision that indictment was not appropriate in this case. While I disagree with his conclusion based on the mountains of information and reason we have to indict her, it was his final decision. With no indictment, Bernie’s chance of becoming the party’s nominee shrunk down to zero percent.

So, what was Bernie Sanders supposed to do? I suppose that he could have endorsed Jill Stein, but what would that do? It would split the liberal vote and hand the general election to Donald Trump, since there are not right-wing opposing independents, and it seems as if the Republican Party will unite behind Trump, despite all the threats. If he would have endorsed Jill Stein, he would have lost all credibility and would have been exiled among Senate Democrats, which would leave him in a position where he could no longer push his progressive agenda forward.

Like it or not, Hillary Clinton is far better than Donald Trump. Trump believes that global climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese. While Hillary Clinton supported fracking, which contributed to climate change, she doesn’t believe that it is a hoax. Trump wants to deport all illegal immigrants. Do I believe that Hillary Clinton will suddenly become a saint and stop Obama’s horrific, record-setting deportation rate? No. But I doubt that she would deport all immigrants. The bottom line is, Hillary is better than Donald Trump. With that being said, I would like to formally announce my stance of endorsing both Hillary Clinton and Jill Stein. If you live in a deep blue state that will go to Clinton regardless or if you live in a deep red state that will go to Trump regardless, keep your pride and your integrity (if you are a real progressive and a real liberal) and vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party. Or hell, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, if that floats your boat. However, if you live in a swing state that could go either way, bite the bullet and vote for Hillary Clinton. No change is better than disastrous change.