The Vermont Senator lost to Clinton in a primary that was not played on a level playing field, given the revelations in the emails obtained by Wiki-Leaks showing that the Democratic National Committee had worked against Sanders' campaign. Clinton's close connections with the super delegates also disadvantaged Sanders during the primaries.

Unlike the name-calling between Trump and Clinton, their substance-free presidential debates and their negative ads on television, Sanders' campaign was focused on substance. Early on, some polls had also shown that Sanders had a better chance to beat Trump than Clinton did.

I wrote in my column back on Feb 19 that I never understood why Americans would regard Sanders as too idealistic and unrealistic given John F. Kennedy's moon speech in 1962 was more idealistic. In an oped in The New York Times on Nov 11, Sanders said he was saddened but not surprised by the outcome. "It is no shock to me that millions of people who voted for Mr Trump did so because they are sick and tired of the economic, political and media status quo."

Filmmaker Michael Moore also said on CNN last week that Sanders "absolutely" would have won the election if he had been the Democratic nominee.

On Wednesday, Sanders was granted new power by Senate Democrats when he was named to a new "Chair of Outreach" position. The day coincided with the release of his new book Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In, in which he said he was not just running an insurgent campaign as an underdog, but taking aim at the nation's entire political and financial establishment.

That is something the protesters and Clinton should seriously reckon with while venting their anger at President-elect Trump.

The author is deputy editor of China Daily USA. [email protected]