Washington Free Beacon managing editor Aaron MacLean said Sunday on Fox News that the email leaks from Democratic National Committee betrayed deep party divisions that hadn't gotten as much notice during the tumultuous Republican primary.
Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) cried foul throughout the primary that the Democratic Party process was being rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton, the establishment favorite, and the email leak showing party officials disparaging and conspiring against the Sanders campaign has only heightened their anger.
Among the revelations from the leak was party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.) calling Sanders' campaign manager an "ass" and a "damn liar," Schultz expressing fury at MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski for suggesting she was biased against Sanders, and the committee's CFO suggesting using Sanders' possibly atheistic religious beliefs against him. In addition, DNC press secretary Mark Paustenbach wondered in an email if there was a way to create a narrative that Sanders' campaign was a "mess."
MacLean's fellow guest Evangeline Gomez, a Democratic strategist, said Republicans were pushing the story because of their own disunity and there wasn't even proof the emails were authentic because they came from a Russian hack. MacLean noted that was an absurd notion, given Schultz had already lost her speaking gig at the convention as a direct result of the leak.
"The fact is that this is not really a secret plot to conspire against Bernie Sanders," MacLean said. "It's been an open secret for some time that the DNC didn't want to see Bernie as the nominee. These are not just a few random people associated with the DNC. This goes right to the top, and as far as whether or not there's going to be blowback this week, I think the blowback has already begun. We see that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is not going to speak in a formal role at the convention now ... I presume out of fears that she would get booed off the stage."
He mentioned in a later appearance that Donald Trump's boisterous campaign had occupied a lot of attention that distracted from the reality of the Democratic Party's fraught tensions, which were brought forth by Sanders and Clinton's contentious primary battle.
MacLean and Gomez also discussed the tightening polls between Clinton and Trump in Pennsylvania, home of this year's DNC and a state Democrats have carried the past six presidential elections.
MacLean relayed he spoke with several Trump voters during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, who were initially hesitant to reveal their selection, leading to possibilities Trump is stronger than he appears in surveys.
"This could be a situation like you had in the UK with the Brexit vote where Trump is under-polling, so yes, I think it's a long shot in Pennsylvania, but if Hillary is only up by three, I think that's a dangerous place for her to be in an anti-establishment year," he said.