Media commentators are increasingly unhappy with how the Democratic National Committee has treated Sen. Bernie Sanders and his supporters, and one pundit even suggested Wednesday that the party chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, should step down.
CNN contributor Van Jones, a Democrat, went so far as to say Wednesday that he’d take Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus over Schultz as his party leader.
“Debbie, who should be the umpire, who should be the marriage counselor, is coming in harder for Hillary Clinton than she is for herself. That is malpractice,” he said, referring to Schultz’s criticism for Sanders following the “chaotic” Nevada Democratic convention this weekend.
“I wish Reince Priebus was my party chair. He did a better job of handling the Trump situation than I’ve see my party chair handle this situation,” Jones added. “I’m ashamed to say that. Yeah, I said it.”
Schultz complained this week that Sanders was too slow to condemn the violent outburst at the Nevada Democratic convention. When the senator eventually released a statement addressing the convention violence, Schultz said his response wasn’t good enough.
The DNC chairwoman told CNN this week, “Unfortunately, the senator’s response was anything but acceptable. It certainly did not condemn his supporters for acting violently or engaging in intimidation tactics and added more fuel to the fire.”
She not only repeated this criticism Wednesday, but she also hinted that Sanders may even condone violent behavior.
“[W]hen there is a ‘but’ in between condemnation of violence generally and after the word ‘but’ you go on to seemingly justify the reason that the violence and intimidation has occurred, then that falls short of making sure that going forward, this kind of conduct doesn’t occur,” Schultz told CNN.
For Jones, her remarks, the DNC’s handling of the Sanders campaign, and its treatment of the senator’s supporters reveal a big problem within the party.
“I think they are fundamentally misreading and misunderstanding what the Sanders movement is,” he said. “If you come out and just smash on one side, you lose your ability to be the arbiter.”
Over at MSNBC, “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski agreed that Schultz has handled the situation terribly, and suggested the party chairwoman resign.
“This has been very poorly handled from the start,” Brzezinski said. “It has been unfair and they haven’t taken him seriously, and it starts quite frankly with the person we just heard speaking. It just does. You know that.”
“[Schultz] should step down,” she added, “she should step down.”
Other MSNBC commentators agreed with Sanders that the Democratic nominating process is “rigged.”
“Bernie keeps using the phrase ‘rigged.’ It has been rigged. It only enhances his accomplishment, what he has done,” said contributor Mike Barnicle.
Host Joe Scarborough added, “[Democratic front-runner] Hillary Clinton has had every advantage, every break given to her from the very beginning by this Democratic Party. It has been rigged.”
“Why would Bernie Sanders politely get in line for the Democratic Party?” Scarborough asked. “I sure as hell wouldn’t. If the party I was a member of treated me like this, rigged the debate process, rigged Iowa, rigged the entire thing forward … I’d say, ‘Go straight to hell, I’m running as an independent.'”
