Debbie Wasserman Schultz Booed Off DNC Stage [Video] — Email Leaks May Result In Criminal Charges
Debbie Wasserman Schultz was recently pressured to resign as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee after multiple internal emails were hacked and posted by WikiLeaks. Reports claim these private messages reveal a deliberate scheme to tip the democratic nomination in favor of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. This massive scandal started with nation-wide demand for Debbie Wasserman Schultz to step down and culminated today when the chairwoman was booed off the stage at a DNC breakfast in Philadelphia.
According to ABC News, Debbie Wasserman Schultz had already agreed to resign from the DNC amid the damaging emails, but that didn’t quell the anger from members of her own party. Before Schultz even began to speak she was drowned out by a swell of boos. Some of the jeers even came from delegates of her home state of Florida. Event organizers were unable to quiet down the crowd and Debbie Wasserman Schultz was ultimately forced to leave the stage.
Others reportedly cried “Shame on you!” at the former chairwoman.
“We need to make sure we move together in a unified way,” Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, trying to find common ground.
But the protesters weren’t having it. It was obvious that most of the booing came from supporters of Bernie Sanders, several of whom wore the senator’s name on their shirts with pride. Despite the best efforts of Sanders’ grassroots campaign, Hillary Clinton is slated to formally accepted the Democratic nomination for President.
“The WikiLeaks emails reaffirm in the minds of delegates that we were given a raw deal and the primary was rigged from the very beginning to favor Mrs. Clinton,” said Karen Bernal, a delegate pledged to Bernie Sanders.
You can see Debbie Wasserman Schultz get booed off the stage in the video below.
It may be difficult to determine exactly what role Debbie Wasserman Schultz had, if any, in reducing Sanders’ chances to earn the nomination, but at the very least the WikiLeaks scandal reveals a serious lack of respect that the DNC maintained for the independent candidate. Among the leaked emails are messages from Debbie Wasserman Schultz herself and other DNC officials declaring that Sanders’ campaign was a mess and calling his manager an “a**” and a “liar.”
Throughout the tumultuous campaign season, Debbie Wasserman Schultz earned herself an increasingly poor reputation among Democrats, especially Sanders supporters. Months ago, she essentially admitted on television that the DNC’s super delegate system was designed to keep independent candidates like Bernie Sanders from having a chance. The WikiLeaks exposure only seemed to confirm what Sanders and his supporters have been accusing Debbie Wasserman Schultz of all along.
Officials from the FBI released a statement on Monday claiming to be “working to determine the nature and scope of the matter,” because “a compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously, and the FBI will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.”
A spokesperson for Hillary Clinton accused the email hackers of deliberately using the leaks to tamper with the Democratic process.
“These emails were hacked, reportedly hacked by the Russians, then [were published] allegedly from WikiLeaks and Guccifer, and they’re appearing right before our convention so it does appear that whoever is doing this is trying to influence our convention.”
Though the email leaks may feel like righteous justice for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the culprits behind the hacking may have to face justice of their own if the FBI is able to determine criminal wrongdoing.
What do you think? Are you glad Debbie Wasserman Schultz was exposed by the email leaks? Or was it wrong for the hackers to break into the DNC’s email servers?
[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]
