PHILADELPHIA — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the departing chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said Thursday that she stepped down from her post because she had to “take one for the team” and help the party in the midst of tumult.
Appearing at a reception by the National Jewish Democratic Council, Wasserman Schultz explained that it had been a “difficult week” after she announced her resignation as party chairwoman. She did so after being booed by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders during a breakfast hosted by the Florida delegation and a host of other instances.
“This has been a difficult week, there’s no question about it,” Wasserman Schultz said, reaffirming her support for Clinton as the nominee.
“It has been a remarkable team effort,” she said referring to her group at the DNC. “And you know sometimes you just have to take one for the team, and that’s okay. It’s okay.”
Earlier in the address, Wasserman Schultz pointed to her religious background as the reason she will not give up, which includes in her primary fight vs Tim Canova, an ally of Sanders.
“I might not always win the day. I might not convince others that I’m right, but you can be damned sure that I will never lose because I got outworked because that is a hallmark of our people,” she told the group.
Wasserman Schultz had announced on Sunday that she would be stepping down as party chairwoman at the end of the convention, with longtime Democratic strategist Donna Brazille taking the reins on an interim basis. She also did not take the stage to gavel in the convention.
Her decision came in the wake of the DNC email hacking scandal after WikiLeaks published 20,000 emails from the party late last week, which uncovered emails floating the possibility of attacks against Sanders’ religion, and others critical of his campaign, including one in which Wasserman Schultz refers to Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver as an “ass.”
