A slew of leaked emails was the last straw for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who announced Sunday afternoon her resignation as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee effective later this week.
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The announcement follows the growing controversy over the release of party emails that at times depicted staffers favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders during the primary campaign.
Lingering bitterness from the heated primary campaign between Clinton and Sanders erupted after more than 19,000 Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails, leaked on Friday, confirmed Sanders’ frequent charge that the party played favourites in the race.
With the Democratic National Convention about to get underway in Philadelphia, there was widespread belief that it would be best for Wasserman Schultz to exit swiftly in order to help the party move on as fast as possible from the unflattering distraction.
“The best way for me to accomplish those goals (of this election cycle) is to step down as Party Chair at the end of this convention”, Wasserman Schultz wrote in a statement.
“You will see me every day between now and November 8th on the campaign trail, and we will lock arms and we will not stand down”, she insisted.
The report comes only hours after reports surfaced that the DNC chair was ousted in her role at the convention and a Democratic official told the PPD News Network that she had been “quarantined”.
“I stand with my Democratic family in making sure we win this fall”, said Maine lawmaker Diane Russell, a Sanders supporter. Bernie Sanders booed outgoing party chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz off the stage.
The most important order of business: Democrats will officially make Clinton the first female presidential nominee from a major party with the roll call vote.
“It is so wonderful to be able to be here with my home state”, Ms Wasserman Schultz told the Florida delegation at the morning meeting, to heckles and jeers.
The Florida congresswoman had announced she would resign her post at the helm of the DNC in the wake of an email scandal involving her aides – but still gavel open and closed the Democrats’ nominating convention this week. She took numerous swipes at Republican Donald Trump, all without mentioning his name. Obama said of Silva in 2014, a message that, almost two years later, will likely be emphasized throughout the four-day convention in Philadelphia.
“Our credibility as a movement will be damaged by booing, turning of backs, walking out or other similar displays”, Sanders said in an email to the delegates, calling it a “personal courtesy” to him.
At 26, she was the youngest woman elected to a seat in the Florida’s House. Solomon said he believes a “vast majority” of Sanders delegates support these kinds of protests to express their dismay. He told The Daily Beast that he raised almost $100,000 in the 72 hours after the emails leaked.
At a news conference Sunday, Sanders delegate Norman Solomon, 65, of Point Reyes Station, California, said many of Sanders’ liberal supporters were disappointed in Clinton’s vice presidential pick of Virginia Sen.
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The issue surfaced on Saturday at Clinton’s first campaign event with Tim Kaine as her running mate, when a protester was escorted out of Florida International University in Miami.
