With what seemed like the plot of the next James Bond film, or perhaps Austin Powers, CNN Political Commentator Sally Kohn accused Russian hackers of trying to sink Hillary Clinton’s campaign by leaking DNC documents. “One of the more unexplored parts of this story is that these leaks were done by Russian hackers,” Kohn noted on New Day Sunday, “And the fact that these leaks, if anything, help— seem intended maybe to help Donald Trump. So, I think first of all, we should point that out.”
Kohn relied on an argument made by Clinton’s pick for vice president, “And looking at the connections between Trump and Russia and Putin, you know, as Tim Kaine pointing out, Putin being the only person Donald Trump hasn't criticized.”
In addition to the documents showing possible collusion between the DNC and the media, they also show a bias in the DNC against Senator Bernie Sanders. “And one of the lines here is "What does her loss mean last night other than he raised 4 million and is more obnoxious,”” read New Day Host Victor Blackwell, “It appears that the DNC was treating him as an annoyance on the way to, what many Sanders supporters called, a coronation of Hillary Clinton.”
And therein lies the concern for the Democratic Party’s fragile party unity heading into their convention. Kohn, who supported Sanders in the primaries, tried to play down that concern by writing off a portion of disgruntled Sanders supporters. “But there is percent of Bernie supporters, in particular, who are wary about this. And look, they were already upset,” she said. She also tried to downplay the E-Mails by saying one would find similar messages in an RNC official’s inbox.
At the end of the segment she doubled down on her claims the Russians were helping Trump and declared the Democratic Party was unifying. “So this timing of this is incredibly unfortunate. It's also incredibly strategic for whomever helped to leak those documents because the party actually is coming together,” she stated.
Partial Transcript below:
CNN
New Day Sunday
July 24, 2016
7:01:27 AM EasternVICTOR BLACKWELL: Let's have the conversation now. We've got A. Scott Bolden, former head of the DC Democratic Party, and Sally Kohn CNN political commentator. Good to have both of you with us this morning. So Sally, you initially in the primary season, you endorsed Bernie Sanders. You're now backing Hillary Clinton as she prepares to accept the nomination. For months, the Bernie Sanders supporters said that it was likely that the DNC had their thumb on the scale in support of Hillary Clinton.
I want to read one of the e-mails released as part of this 20,000 e-mail trove leaked by WikiLeaks. This is a May 3rd e-mail from the DNC national finance director to a former DNC official after Sanders won the Indiana primary. And one of the lines here is "What does her loss mean last night other than he raised 4 million and is more obnoxious." It appears that the DNC was treating him as an annoyance on the way to, what many Sanders supporters called, a coronation of Hillary Clinton.
SALLY KOHN: I mean look, there's no question that the -- some of these e-mails, timing of the e-mails is embarrassing and unfortunate. And I do think by the way, one of the more unexplored parts of this story is that these leaks were done by Russian hackers. And looking at the connections between Trump and Russia and Putin, you know, as Tim Kaine pointing out, Putin being the only person Donald Trump hasn't criticized. And the fact that these leaks, if anything, help— seem intended maybe to help Donald Trump. So, I think first of all, we should point that out.
Second of all, look, they're unfortunate, they're embarrassing. The reality is twofold. First of all I’m sure if— my Bernie friends are going to hate me for saying this— but if we looked at the other side, there would be ugly and unfortunate e-mails coming out of the campaigns as well if we looked at those as well. I mean it’s just they’re— and by the way I've read them. In some of those WikiLeaks the DNC e-mails, there are e-mails that show they were trying to give— trying to create a very fair process going over and above trying to make sure the process was fair. You can cherry pick.
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BLACKWELL: Sally, let me come to you. Should— Is it possible or even credible to think that this convention can now go on as scheduled without having one of the headliners address the elephant in the room?
KOHN: You know, I don't know. That's not for me to say.
BLACKWELL: Would you like to hear from them on this topic?
KOHN: You know, what's interesting here is again, and I don't want to minimize their concerns. There is a percent of Bernie supporters in particular -- I'm sure Democrats across the board may be concerned by some of these e-mails. But there is percent of Bernie supporters, in particular, who are wary about this. And look, they were already upset. There's more probably that the party and the Clinton campaign need to do to continue to build those bridges.
But the larger point here is absolutely right, look, a larger percentage of Bernie supporters now are backing Hillary Clinton than Hillary supporters backed Barack Obama in 2008. So this timing of this is incredibly unfortunate. It's also incredibly strategic for whomever helped to leak those documents because the party actually is coming together. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have far more in common than they don't. We've seen Hillary Clinton move toward Bernie Sanders. We saw the Democratic Party platform move toward Bernie Sanders. We're going to see this convention be a unified, Progressive, bold, visionary, positive agenda for this party, for the country in stark contrast with the hate, xenophobia and regression of the Republicans. That’s going to happen WikiLeaks or no WikiLeaks. Yes, it should be addressed, but let's keep our eye on the larger prize here.
