Last weekend, a Democratic convention in Nevada erupted in violence that terrified even seasoned Las Vegas security guards.
But the ballroom brawl was just the beginning of the strife now engulfing the Democratic nomination process. Sanders is now being accused, by senior Democrats, of using “Trump tactics” to disrupt the nomination process (though Donald Trump himself seems to be presiding over a more pulled-together party).
Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton appeared to have barely avoided a gut-punch, claiming a close win in Kentucky, but losing to Sanders in more-progressive Oregon. (The Kentucky win, a margin of 2,000 votes, still has yet to be officially certified.) But even with her narrow state-level victories, Clinton still claims a huge delegate lead, 2,291 to Bernie Sanders’s 1,528 — largely due to her command of “super-delegates.”
For Sanders supporters, frustration with, as they term it, a “rigged” Democratic process boiled over in Nevada. After the fight, where Bernie Sanders supporters protested not having enough delegates to fill their quota by screaming and throwing things, Nevada Dem chairwoman Roberta Lange got death threats via text message from Bernie Supporters.
Lange says she received “thousands” of phone calls and text messages, sometimes up to three a minute, to her personal line. According to the Nevada Democratic Party, the messages included, “thousands of death threats and threats of violence and misogynistic insults that aren’t fit to print.”
In response, Bernie Sanders complained that an undeserving person had seized the fruits of his labor and redistributed them, and would not distance himself from or take responsibility for his supporters, ending a television interview after being asked about the Nevada dust-up, and refusing to apologize for the chaos — claiming that his supporters were “peaceful.”
Instead, he accused the Democratic Party of using “its power to prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place” and failing to “treat our campaign supporters with fairness and the respect that they have earned.” This was all despite claims from the Nevada party that it was actually Bernie Sanders who failed to fill his delegate slots, leaving more than 450 state convention seats vacant.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DNC chair (and Hillary Clinton supporter), was understandably not amused and fired back at Sanders, accusing him of adding “fuel to the fire.” Nevada Senator Harry Reid reportedly told Sanders in a private call that he was abrogating his duty of leadership and accused Sanders of using Trump-like tactics to disrupt the nomination process.
But what happens in Vegas probably won’t stay in Vegas, as tensions are likely to boil over into the July convention. MSNBC reports that despite their outward appearance as peace-loving progressives, Sanders supporters are “itching for a fight” and senior Democrats like Dick Durbin are freaking out. As Donald Trump quietly courts Republicans to his camp for Cleveland, it now looks like Philadelphia will be have to be poised for widespread unrest.