Debbie Wasserman Schultz Ousted From Democratic National Convention [Updated]
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will not have a significant speaking role at the party’s convention or preside over it, CNN reports.
On Sunday, the DNC Rules Committee named Ohio Representative Marcia Fudge permanent DNC chair, according to a DNC source who spoke to CNN. Fudge’s office confirmed CNN’s source in an email to NPR.
The decision was reportedly made on Saturday, one day after Wikileaks published nearly 20,000 internal DNC emails, several of which suggest the DNC supported Clinton over Sanders and even took actions to derail the Sanders campaign.
CNN’s DNC source said that the decision to fire Schultz was supported by both the Sanders and the Clinton camps.
Shortly before news broke that Schultz would be stepping down from her position as DNC chairwoman, Sanders called on her to resign in an interview with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
“We need a new chair that is going to lead us in a different direction,” Sanders said.
Sanders reiterated his support for Clinton, adding, “To my mind what is most important now is defeating the worst candidate I have seen in my lifetime, Donald Trump.”
UPDATE [4:00 p.m.]: Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued a statement on Sunday in which she announce she’d be stepping down from her role as Democratic National Committee Chair at the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention.
Schultz also said that she will make some sort of address at the convention, countering some earlier claims that she might not be speaking at all.
