Outgoing Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz spoke through unceasing crowd noise and jeers at a delegate breakfast for her state Monday morning, spinning the tremendous “interest” in her remarks into a plug for Florida.
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“We are the state that will deliver the White House to make sure that we can continue to make the progress that we have been able to make under Barack Obama for the last eight years”, Wasserman Schultz said Monday morning. (Earlier Sunday, CNN had reported that Wasserman Schultz would disappear from the convention.) Additionally, Clinton in a statement said Wasserman Schultz would join her campaign as a senior surrogate and chair the campaign’s efforts for other Democrats.
“She’s put in a lot of work, ” Mook said. “She’s going to be gaveling in this convention”.
Judging by the signs in the room, the interest was more reflective of upset Bernie Sanders supporters.
Norman Solomon, an influential Sanders delegate, said there was deep unhappiness among supporters of the Vermont senator in Philadelphia with parts of the Democratic platform and with Clinton’s vice presidential pick.
“This is the week when we all come together”, Jealous said.
At the end of the party a group of Sanders delegates began chanting “Down with Debbie”, a reference to Wasserman Schultz.
They were protesting leaked DNC emails that suggest Wasserman Schultz’s staff favored Hillary Clinton over Sanders during the presidential primary.
“What does that say?” said Al Simon, a Sanders delegate from Windsor.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump today blamed his rival Hillary Clinton for the email scandal that has hit the Democratic party resulting in resignation of head of the Democratic National Committee. Republican officials also had sought to minimize internal party divisions last week after Texas Sen.
Compared with Cruz, Sanders has maintained a larger, more loyal, and highly motivated following.
The leaked emails angered Mr Sanders’ supporters, hundreds of whom took to the streets of Philadelphia on Sunday to voice their discontent.
Sanders is the headlining speaker Monday night, and is scheduled to address his delegates at the Pennsylvania Convention Center downtown in the afternoon.
“We felt from the start that we were just being pushed aside”, he said.
Wasserman Schultz, first elected to Congress in 2004 and party chairwoman since 2011, has made her Jewish identity central to her political career. Party officials have noted that Trump has taken stances that might find favor in Russia while not directly linking the e-mail hack to Russian support for the Republican candidate.
“It’s troubling and disturbing to see the party had bias during the campaign”, she said. He cited Trump’s statements about the the relevance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance and his questioning of whether the USA should leap to the defense of allies who haven’t fulfilled commitments on defense spending.
Mook was careful in addressing questions about the role of Russians hackers in the breach of DNC e-mails and their subsequent release. “I want to let the experts speak on this”, he said, adding that analysts have concluded the hack was “perpetrated by Russian state actors”.
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Dan O’Neal, 68, is a retired schoolteacher and delegate from Arizona, said Wasserman Schultz has to be censured.
