BROOKLYN, NY – As the New York primary approaches, MBHS students may find themselves casually and occasionally glancing at Facebook “articles” for their election coverage. And, as is expected in any significant population of Americans, opinions on the Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton are running rampant. Clinton seems to have accumulated a laundry list of scandals, and claims of untruthfulness and flip-floppery are consistently tearing through her campaign. Politifact’s file on Clinton, which has analyzed 190 statements that she has made, claims that only 23% of the statements of hers they’ve analyzed are completely true. Which (as you might imagine) begs the question: how do seniors of MBHS feel about Hillary, and how does it compare to the truth?

I spoke to David Schoen a few minutes before he headed into first period pre-calc. He told me that he thinks that Clinton “tends to flip-flop on some ideas, but some of her ideas could be promising for the country.” When asked about claims that Clinton was a liar, he told me he thought that was “a bit of a generalization,” and that it’s normal for the opposition to say dastardly things about a leading candidate.

Chance Landesmann, an openly fervent Bernie Sanders supporter, told me he “think[s] Hillary Clinton is a person who doesn’t have the American people’s best interest in mind,” and claimed that “she works with the rich people to insure that she gets political power and keeps it.” This is partially true. There have been numerous reports of Hillary’s ties to wall street and money she’s received from large banks and organizations. When asked if he would agree that Hillary was a liar, he told me “Yes, I would agree. But I think all politicians are liars, even Bernie Sanders is a liar. You have to lie to keep your image clean.” Politifact’s profile on Bernie Sanders says that only 15% of his statements that they’ve analyzed are completely truthful, so Sanders may not be the saint his supporters make him out to be.

Michael Feynberg, self-proclaimed and elected funniest student in the senior class, told me he is “most certainly” following this year’s election. When asked about Hillary, he said with distaste that he “wouldn’t vote for her. She’s just… ugh.” He went on to call her a “pretty big liar,” considering she “lied about Bernie Sanders’ … gun stance and his stance on Israel.” What Michael says is partially true. Though Hillary has been known to lie about Bernie’s stance on gun control, Bernie’s campaign manager has been found rattling off very similarly untruthful claims about Clinton. So, though Sanders may be better at deflecting criticism, it is clear that both campaigns will continue playing the political game.