Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.) could not take advantage of a second opportunity Sunday on Meet the Press to explain the difference between Democrats and far-left socialists.
Schultz was flustered by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Thursday when asked the same question during a discussion of the popularity of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who has emerged as a strong challenger to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
Known for pivoting on every question she gets to attacks on the Republican Party, Schultz could only sputter that the true question in the race was the difference between Democrats and the GOP.
Amazingly, despite the clip of her non-answer going viral this week, Schultz gave almost the same answer to host Chuck Todd. He played the clip of her with Matthews and asked her to respond.
"Given that Bernie Sanders is an unabashed socialist, believes in social democratic governments, likes the ones in Europe, what is the difference? Can you explain the difference?" Todd asked Schultz.
"It’s always fun to be interviewed by Chris Matthews, and I know that he enjoys that banter," she said. "The important distinction that I think we’re going to be discussing is the difference between Democrats and Republicans."
"The difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats want to make sure that people have the opportunity to climb the ladders of success and reach the middle class, have a good education, have a secure retirement. Look at the Republican field, what they stand for is the extremism that you've seen on full display over the last few weeks, which is why Donald Trump is their frontrunner. Donald Trump is essentially a reflection of where the Republican party is today. Limiting a woman's right to make her own healthcare decisions, shifting to a more private healthcare system, ending Medicare as we know it...that's the important and relevant contrast," Schultz said.
Todd, for his part, did not note at the time that Schultz completely failed to answer his direct question, although he did bring it up in a later discussion segment.