Wasserman Schultz ‘cautioned’ Clinton, Sanders on intraparty attacks

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) on Wednesday expressed confidence the party will be able to “reunify,” despite a protracted Democratic primary.

During a conference call with reporters about the state of the presidential race, Wasserman Schultz noted that it’s common for rivals to use sharper language as the primaries wind down and said she’s advised both of the Democratic candidates to be careful about their tone.

{mosads}She also pointed to the bitterly fought primary between Hillary Clinton and then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008 and said the party was able to “easily” come together and coalesce behind Obama.

“Towards the end of any campaign, there’s more pointed language used and candidates make sharper distinctions with one another,” she said. “I’ve cautioned both to be mindful of the tone they use especially at this point. We’re going to need to be able to reunify.” 

“I’m confident they’ll be able to come together and set the tone for their own supporters,” she continued.

The call comes one day after Sanders’s double-digit victory in West Virginia over the Democratic front-runner.

The tougher rhetoric in the Democratic race became amplified after Sanders said Clinton was not qualified to be president last month. He later pulled away from that comment and Democrats warned about the escalated tone, fearing it would harm their chances in the fall.

Sanders has said in interviews that Clinton shouldn’t expect his supporters to automatically fall in line behind her if she’s the nominee. The former secretary of State fired back and chided him for setting conditions on his support and called for the party to unify.

But the DNC chairwoman said that exit polls from recent primaries are evidence that Democratic voters are “energized” by the primary and willing to support either Clinton or Sanders.

“The last few primaries we’ve had exit polls have shown our voters really overwhelming believe this primary has actually energized them and as motivated to support either candidate,” she said.

Wasserman Schultz also drew contrasts between her party’s primary and the GOP race, which she described as having “historic and unprecedented division.” She knocked Republicans such as Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) who won’t rally behind presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

On Thursday, Trump will meet with Ryan and other members of GOP leadership to address the tensions. Last week, Ryan said he wasn’t ready to support Trump.

“Never before in history has a Speaker refused or been unwilling to support their party’s nominee,” she said. “The Republicans are an unprecedented division and chaos, and frankly, they acknowledged they are.”