New Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez received a rude welcome at the DNC’s “Come Together Fight Back” tour stop in Portland, Maine.
“Regardless of why you showed up today, you showed up for a reason. Something compelled you to find the space and time to be here, and I want you to ask yourself what that reason is,” Claire Cummings, a leader of the Maine Young Democrats, told the crowd.
“Maybe it’s because you love a certain senator from Vermont,” Cummings said, referring to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The crowd roared with approval at the mention of Sanders’ name and started chanting his name.
“Maybe you came though because you’re curious about the new DNC chairman and the future of the Democratic party,” Cummings said, referring to Perez.
This, time, however, the crowd reacted with boos and a few scattered cheers, prompting Cummings to react with surprise before continuing.
Perez, the former Obama labor secretary who is regarded as belonging to the Democratic establishment, defeated Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison — a left-wing Bernie Sanders supporter — in February for the DNC chair. The DNC chair race was largely emblematic of the party divide between moderate, pro-Hillary Clinton Democrats and left-wing, pro-Sanders progressives.
WATCH: