Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.) called out Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) Tuesday for his response to the chaos caused by his supporters at the Nevada Democratic Convention.
In an interview with CNN, Schultz said that Sanders' unapologetic statement after the convention devolved into chair-throwing, screaming and fighting was "anything but acceptable."
"Unfortunately the senator's response was anything but acceptable," she said. "It certainly did not condemn his supporters for acting violently or engaging in intimidation tactics and instead added more fuel to the fire ... You can be frustrated with the process, but in the United States of America, and especially in the Democratic Party, it is never appropriate to act in any way other than civilly and in an orderly fashion."
Host Wolf Blitzer also asked Schultz about the convention and about the threats that have been made toward the Chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party, Roberta Lange, by Sanders' supporters.
"When I heard what happened at the Nevada State Democratic Convention this weekend, I was deeply disturbed," Schultz said. "Regardless of any campaign or candidate's frustration over process, there should never be a 'but' when it comes to condemning violence and intimidation. Violence and intimidation are never acceptable under any circumstances and what happened at that convention was unacceptable."
"Congresswoman, the Nevada State Democratic Party said, and I'm quoting now, that ‘Sanders campaign staff and supporters incited violence and chaos.’ Those are pretty strong words. Does the DNC believe the Sanders campaign, that staffers actually incited violence?" Blitzer said.
"Well, like I said, I was not there, but I do know, because there was video and acknowledgment, that chairs were thrown at the stage, that violence was used, that the state party chair, Roberta Lange, who has worked in the trenches to elect Democrats for decades has been threatened," Schultz said.
"This is unacceptable behavior and the Sanders campaign and Senator Sanders himself should not only outright condemn that specific conduct, but they also need to take steps to prevent it and make sure that their supporters understand that the most important and correct way to respond to any frustration they have over process is to be civil and orderly. Not respond with violence and intimidation and that needs to be unequivocally condemned, and unfortunately, it has not been unequivocally condemned."
As chair of the DNC, Schultz has faced repeated criticism from Sanders supporters and accusations of helping rig the primary results for Hillary Clinton.