Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez was hammered with tough questions by the media throughout the day on Tuesday.
While on Bloomberg TV, Perez had to dodge three separate times when the interviewer asked him if Hillary Clinton’s deal with the DNC was fair. Clinton signed a contract with the DNC that allowed her to sign off on new hires and make other strategic decisions during the Democratic primary.
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When asked if the deal was appropriate, Perez responded, “Well, I was out in Virginia the past four days, I put 700 miles on the car, and with all due respect, nobody is asking what happened back in 2016.”
The interviewer continued to press the issue, and Perez spinned hard to say the contract only applied to decisions that would affect the general election.
“Having said that…we have to build trust in the process,” he said. “And we have taken responsibility for that…and have to make sure every candidate has a fair shake.”
Perez was again asked if the deal was fair, and he said only that he would offer the same opportunities to every candidate.
Things didn’t get easier for Perez during a radio interview on “The Bill Press Show,” when he was asked why he took on a second job when he once said that being DNC chair is a full-time job.
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“You’ve promised to be a full time chair, yet you’ve accepted a teaching job at Brown University,” Press said. “Isn’t that contradicting what you promised?”
Perez asserted that he is working 90 hours a week to meet his commitment to the DNC and is “learning from” his millennial students at Brown.
During another radio interview, a caller went on a tear against Perez, trashing him for fundraising agreements that left states with little money and for allegedly encouraging Keith Ellison supporters to leave the DNC.
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The caller also derided the DNC for having the “deck stacked against Bernie” during the 2016 Democratic primary, and the radio interviewer eventually had to cut her off and end the interview.