Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who was removed from her chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee as a result of this weekend’s damaging Wikileaks emails, has joined Hillary Clinton’s campaign as an “honorary chair.”
One of the Wikileaks emails revealed that Wasserman-Schultz, who as DNC Chair should be impartial, said that Bernie Sanders would not be president.
Clinton describes Wasserman-Schultz as a “longtime friend” and will serve the as honorary chair of the campaign’s 50-state program to help elect Democrats around the country.
Clinton wrote in a release, “I look forward to campaigning with Debbie in Florida and helping her in her re-election bid – because as president, I will need fighters like Debbie in Congress who are ready on day one to get to work for the American People.”
Breitbart reported that Chuck Todd, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press” said that Clinton’s campaign employing Wasserman-Schultz will “feed into some conspiracy theories.” According to Todd, Clinton’s decision to hire the former DNC chair was a “very interesting decision” and that it would make some Sanders people think that Clinton owed her something. He went on to say that he didn’t know if Clinton’s decision to hire Wasserman-Schultz was “the best call.”
According to Fortune Magazine, Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort said that Hillary Clinton should follow Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’ lead and drop out of the race over her use of a secret email server. Manafort said in a statement that Wasserman-Schultz’s emails put the Democratic Party at risk, “but Hillary Clinton’s emails put all of America at risk.”
During the campaign cycle, there was a discussion in the DNC over how to respond to Sanders’ assertions that he would oust Wasserman-Schultz if he was elected president.
“This is a silly story,” Wasserman-Schultz wrote in a May 21st email that was discovered by Wikileaks, according to the New York Times, “He isn’t going to be president.”
After news of Wasserman-Schultz’s removal as DNC Chair, Bernie Sanders said in a statement, “Debbie Wasserman-Schultz made the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party. While she deserves thanks for her years of service, the party now needs new leadership that will open the doors of the party and welcome in working people and young people. The party leadership must also always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race.”
MPR News reports that Democratic former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said that the sooner the Democratic Party can break with Wasserman-Schultz, the better. Rybak, a DNC vice-chairman said that Wasserman-Schultz announced resignation at the end of the convention isn’t quick enough. “I suppose I should say all sorts of nice things right now. But the fact of the matter is, I felt this should have happened many months ago, maybe a year ago,” Rybak said in the MPR article. “I’m happy she came to the realization to leave. I’m not happy she is making it more complicated than it needs to be.”
