Lingering bitterness from the heated primary campaign between Clinton and Sanders erupted after more than 19,000 Democratic National Committee emails, leaked on Friday, confirmed Sanders’ frequent charge that the party played favourites in the race. Outside the arena, several hundred Sanders backers marched down Philadelphia’s sweltering streets. Signs carried messages such as “Never Hillary” and even in one case “Just go to jail, Hillary”, an echo of the Republicans’ “Lock her up”.
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Sanders joined a high-wattage lineup of speakers, including first lady Michelle Obama, who delivered a forceful, impassioned defense of the Democratic nominee.
Norman Solomon, a delegate who supports Sanders, said Wasserman Schultz’s removal was unlikely to soothe those who back the Vermont senator. “I wouldn’t vote for her for dog catcher”, said Melissa Arab of Shelby Township, Michigan.
It came at a crucial moment for Clinton’s campaign, on the heels of leaked emails suggesting that the party had favored the former secretary of state through the primaries despite a vow of neutrality.
In the interview, Clinton also offered more details on her pledge to make sure the “middle class will not get a tax increase”, defining the “middle class” as those who earn less than $250,000 per year. As he demanded Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s resignation, Mr. Sanders made clear he wants to see Ms. Clinton win the White House. Mr. Sanders’ supporters believe Mr. Kaine is not liberal enough.
For now, party leaders tried to make Wasserman Schultz’s exit as graceful as possible. But she stepped aside, bowing to pressure from Democrats who feared that the mere sight of her on stage would prompt strong opposition.
Sanders was a relatively unknown Vermont senator when he chose to challenge for the Democratic nomination. But he struggled to appeal to black voters and couldn’t match the former secretary of state’s ties to the Democratic establishment that wields significant power in the primary process.
Her supporters pushed back, standing on chairs and yelling at the Sanders people to step back or sit down. He implored them to vote for Clinton, generating a chorus of boos. But Clinton’s choice for VP has given Trump yet another opening for his demagogic efforts to pose as some kind of populist against powerful elites.
“I don’t see how you run for president of the United States if you spend all your time trash-talking the United States”, she told supporters at a rally in North Carolina. Clinton promised a stark contrast to the GOP gathering, saying she planned to highlight “success stories” and flesh out details of her proposed policies.
The kickoff lineup had always been meant to appeal to the party’s restive liberal wing, but that task has become unexpectedly urgent by the trove of 19,000 leaked emails.
Emails posted to the website Wikileaks show that at least some DNC officials were looking at ways to undercut Sanders’ campaign, including questioning his religious beliefs.
“Many people are uncomfortable with this whole FBI thing”, Schreiner said, referring to the bureau’s investigation into Clinton’s email practices.
Ms. Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, tried to shift blame for the email hack away from DNC officials and onto “Russian state actors” who, he said, may have breached DNC computers “for the objective of helping Donald Trump”, the Republican presidential nominee.
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Trump dismissed the suggestion in a tweet: “The joke in town is that Russian Federation leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me”.
