Rep. Keith Ellison, an early and controversial front-runner in the race for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship, could face a “messy” battle with other contenders vying for the party’s top job, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Friday.
“I know this is a process that is going to work itself out both organically and conventionally,” Schultz said of the DNC race, declining to address questions about Ellison specifically. “Sometimes, that’s a little messy.”
Ellison, a Muslim progressive from Minnesota, has come under fire this week over his past ties to the Nation of Islam and its anti-Semitic leader.
A recording made public this week by the Investigative Project on Terrorism appeared to reveal Ellison criticizing Israel’s prominence and calling on Arab Americans to resist this at a 2010 fundraiser. The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish group dedicated to fighting prejudice, called Ellison’s comments “deeply disturbing and disqualifying” in a statement Thursday.
“There’s a handful of candidates for the chairmanship, some whom are publicly working it and have declared, some who are still evaluating whether they want to get in this race,” Schultz told reporters at the White House on Friday.
Other Democrats who have entered the contest for DNC chair include Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison and New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley.
“The president has spoken generally about how the Democratic Party can rebuild itself, that obviously the results of the election in November were not elections that we either anticipated or desired,” Schultz said.
“This Democratic Party is going to have to make some changes in order to make sure that we’re better at getting our message across, that we’re better at showing up in communities that might not initially be receptive to our argument and our case,” he continued.
Schultz said President Obama did not yet have an endorsement to offer in the DNC race, which will be decided in late February 2017. The winner will replace acting DNC Chair Donna Brazile, who presided over Hillary Clinton’s loss after stepping into the position amid controversy over the WikiLeaks revelations that felled her predecessor in July.
Ellison has already earned the high-profile endorsements of Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Beyond Ellison’s far-left views, critics have expressed reservations about his candidacy given the limitations he would experience while splitting his time between the chairmanship and his congressional duties.
