Tim Canova, a law professor challenging incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the Florida Democratic Party’s primary, said Monday that Hillary Clinton’s “rewarding” the party chair with a leadership position in her campaign was “a bit tone-deaf.”
“I think anyone who looks at this situation should be somewhat embarrassed about the way the DNC has been run for the past year or more and, you know,” Canova told Fox News host Greta Van Susteren.
Canova, a progressive Democrat, did not defend his party or excuse the behavior of its presumptive nominee or outgoing DNC chair in the wake of an email scandal that shows staffers blocked anyone but Clinton from the nomination.
Instead, he explained why Clinton’s hiring a standing congresswoman could hurt her chances of winning Florida in November and the election.
“She is going to need the state of Florida to win most likely and to win Florida a Democrat is going to have to win Broward County by a couple of hundred thousand votes at least,” Canova said. “It’s very questionable whether Wasserman Schultz would even be helpful in that regard. She could be dragging down the ticket for a Democrat.”
Canova pitched himself as a better option to Miami Democrats. He cited his endorsement from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in May and said the two have worked together in the past, before Sanders gained national fame for his presidential campaign.
He said he has also been a victim to Wasserman Schultz’s collusion, but on a local level unlike Sanders.
“When I first jumped into this race months ago, I would go to speak at a Democratic Party caucus or a local Democratic club or a union hall and before I even got there, they had gotten a call from someone on Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s staff urging them to not let this man speak,” Canova said.
“You either believe in democracy or you don’t and I will say that she certainly has been avoiding the whole issue of having even a single debate with me.”
