POLITICO: Obama says he has Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s back
President Barack Obama chats with DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz on April 22, 2015. | Getty
By HANNA TRUDO
Speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Miami on Friday, President Barack Obama expressed his support for his party’s embattled chairwoman — Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
“She’s had my back, I want to make sure we have her back,” he said.
Wasserman Schultz has faced blistering criticism in recent weeks, with some insiders speculating she could be ousted before the convention in July amid a drawn-out Democratic primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Sanders has accused Wasserman Schultz of bias toward Clinton — and has endorsed her primary challenger, law professor Tim Canova.
Removing a sitting party chair in the middle of an election would be complicated, and Obama has generally refrained from intervening in the primary contest.
On Friday, however, he expressed his unequivocal support, saying Wasserman Schultz is “somebody who I don’t know how she does it, because she’s everywhere all the time, non-stop, and she’s a mom and a wife and has been just incredibly supportive of my agenda.”