“It was not only disturbing, but disrespectful,” said Nina Turner, a former co-chair of the Sanders campaign who served on the committee. Disgusting, disturbing, unacceptable. And it is not a way to restore the faith of people who already suspect that the Democratic Party is unfair. “
Another person at the meeting described it as a cross talk between a small number of people in the Biden and Sanders camps that made it difficult to hear the proceedings, and said that some people did not know how to use the mute button.
The Democratic National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Biden official questioned Sanders’ name account.
“This is a mischaracterization. There was a small group that was drowning the speakers, and this continued through a tribute to the late representative John Lewis, ”said the person, who declined to speak on record. “The delegates from Sanders and Biden asked them to stop. And most important of this meeting were the five resolutions that were passed unanimously, as a result of the hard work of the Sanders and Biden teams. “
The dispute began when Brent Welder, a Sanders nominee on the convention’s rules committee, proposed a resolution to change the party’s statute to reject all corporate PAC dollars and limit corporate lobbyists to serve on the DNC for several years. years.
A person appointed by Biden asked to introduce himself, which, according to some of Sanders, caught them by surprise. “Tabling until when?” asked the welder.
“Generally, until someone makes a successful motion to get him off the table,” replied former Rep. Barney Frank, the meeting’s co-chair. “After the committee expires, if no one has successfully moved to get him off the table, then he dies with the committee.”
“Wow, that doesn’t make any sense,” said Welder.
Jillian Johnson, a Sanders-appointed person on the committee, said other Sanders supporters urged that the proposal be voted on in the closed-door meeting room by changing the background images on their screens to reflect their support. She said some Biden appointees punished progressives for it.
“‘You’re acting like kids,’ someone said, and ‘you were going to lose anyway, so get over it,'” he said. “And then the host just closed the meeting so we couldn’t see each other anymore.”
Welder and another Sanders designee who requested anonymity also said that Biden’s designees made those comments. Turner said she heard them, too, saying they came from people designated by Biden or “party fanatics.”
Minutes before the meeting ended, the committee voted to consider Welder’s proposal, which was supported. His original amendment was then defeated.
While the frustration of Sanders’ appointees leaked on social media, the actual arguments in private rooms were not broadcast live, a blessing for the party. If the meeting had been held in person, as the rules committee usually does, such divisions could have been captured on tape.
In a separate issue on Thursday, the rules committee reached an agreement between the Sanders and Biden teams to extend the party reforms that were agreed in the wake of the controversial 2016 election.
The rules committee voted unanimously to approve a proposal to maintain “the progress that has been made” to the presidential nomination process, such as not allowing superdelegates to vote on the first vote and make assemblies more accessible.
Sanders and Biden camps hoped the resolution would highlight harmony at the party. The reforms, which will now be voted on by convention delegates, would be cemented for the 2024 presidential primary.
In an effort to maintain unity, Sanders 2020 campaign officials asked Sanders appointees to withdraw and vote against some amendments because they conflicted with the agreement made with the Biden team.
The committee defeated a plan to make the limited role of superdelegates permanent.
“The rules passed today, which maintain the important changes we pushed to make four years ago, ensure that our party’s presidential candidate is selected by grassroots Democrats and not by party elites,” Sanders said in a statement. “I want to thank the Biden campaign, the delegates, and the committee members who forged this deal. What it simply says is that the will of the people must come first.”
