PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA — After resigning as chair of the Democratic National Committee on the eve of the convention, Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Monday that she would no longer be appearing on stage to open the first night of the event.
“I have decided that in the interest of making sure that we can start the Democratic convention on a high note that I am not going to gavel in the convention,” Wasserman Schultz told the Sun Sentinel.
The Florida lawmaker released a statement Sunday announcing her resignation after emails released by WikiLeaks indicated how she and other DNC staffers attempted to sabotage Bernie Sanders’ campaign. In that statement, she said she would be abdicating her position after the conclusion of the convention.
But disgruntled Democrats and supporters of Sanders claimed that was not sufficient and demanded both that she hand over the reigns of the convention and that other DNC staffers are held accountable.
Earlier on Monday, Wasserman Schultz was repeatedly interrupted and booed off stage as she spoke to the delegation of Florida Democrats at a breakfast. Delegates yelled “shame” as the Florida lawmaker attempted to yell over the protests.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will gavel in the convention on Monday night, a role that Wasserman Schultz was still expected to perform until Monday afternoon.
In a press conference Monday morning, before Wasserman Schultz made the decision not to open the convention, Hillary Clinton campaign director Robby Mook said he was not concerned with the “parliamentary procedure” of who opens the convention.
“There’s a plan in place,” Mook told reporters. “[Wasserman Schultz] was clear yesterday about what she plans to do. I’m much more excited about the incredible speakers, the talent that’s going to be up there tonight making the case about the choice that voters face, than I am about, all due respect, parliamentary procedure and gaveling in.”
Mook would not say whether he or Clinton believe other DNC staffers should be let go over the scandal. But also on Monday morning, interim DNC chair Donna Brazile spoke to the Hispanic caucus, assuring them that other DNC officials will be held accountable for the revelations of the email leak — including that DNC staffers looked to target Sanders over his religious beliefs.
“Regardless of how this information got out, there’s no excuse,” Brazile said. “The staff that is saying those things, even if they thought they could get away with it. And so I say to my friends in the Sanders campaign, I am sorry for those words. There is no religious test in our party.”
“If I have to clean some desks, some drawers, I will just open up more doors and you will fill those desks and drawers, and we will make sure we will get a party that’s worthy of your support,” she continued, to huge applause.
In addition to proving Wasserman Schultz’ bias toward Clinton, the leaked emails also portrayed a party trying to win over Latino voters with overgeneralization and stereotypes. “Hispanics are the most brand loyal consumers in the World: Known fact,” reads one email to DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda. “Once a brand loses this loyalty, Hispanics never re-engage: Unforgiving.”
The New York Times reported Monday that discussion over the Russian government and intelligence agencies’ involvement in the email leak has intensified as the convention gets underway. “Researchers have concluded that the national committee was breached by two Russian intelligence agencies, which were the same attackers behind previous Russian cyberoperations at the White House, the State Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff last year,” the Times reported. Though metadata from the emails suggests they passed through Russian computers, the Times reports that it’s anyone’s guess whether or not Vladimir Putin was involved.