DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz refused to mention Bernie Sanders’ name in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday.
Appearing on “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” the only candidate Schultz mentioned was Hillary Clinton. Wasserman Schultz had high praise for Clinton saying, “Hillary Clinton has been doing what I think is a fantastic job crisscrossing the country talking about the issues, that are the bread and butter issues important to Americans, who ultimately decide who becomes President of the United States.” (RELATED: O’Malley Says Debates Are ‘Rigged’ For Hillary, Gets Hit With DEATH STARE From DNC Chair)
Wasserman Schultz even mentioned the possible “additional credible candidate” Vice President Joe Biden, who has been going around the country recently making speeches in key battle ground states.
Many polls have Sanders beating Clinton or show Clinton’s numbers sliding drastically in comparison to Sanders’s. (RELATED: Has Hillary Clinton Lost Women Voters?)
When asked about the limited debate schedule of the Democratic Primary season Schultz said, “It’s important that our candidates be seen in a wide variety of formats and venues.” Schultz explained, “We have six debates and there will be many other opportunities for our candidates to be seen in candidate forums and you know, our initial focus in the early primary states is on making sure that the retail politics can really be robust.” (RELATED O’Malley SLAMS Rigged, ‘Less Democratic’ DNC Debate Schedule)
Schultz even criticized the concept of debates, saying “every time a candidate has to engage and get ready for a debate, they have to come off the trail and that means that they are going to not get as much of an opportunity from the voters to be seen up close and personal.”
In the 2008 election cycle, the Democratic Party had 26 total debates which Schultz argued spread the candidates too thin. In the 2016 election cycle, the DNC will only have five debates compared to the Republicans who will have eleven. (RELATED: O’Malley: DNC Is Stacking The Deck For Hillary)