Dem leader weighed replacing Clinton atop ticket
WASHINGTON — Donna Brazile, the former interim head of the Democratic National Committee, says in a new book that she considered replacing Hillary Clinton as the party’s 2016 nominee with Vice President Joe Biden after Clinton suffered a fainting spell, according to an account published by The Washington Post.
In her book, Brazile writes of her frequent frustrations with the Clinton campaign, saying she would tell its leaders that she could invoke powers from the DNC charter to oversee the process of replacing a nominee who had become disabled, something that has never happened in the modern era of presidential elections.
The Post quotes Brazile as writing, “Again and again I thought about Joe Biden,” adding that “no matter my doubts and my fears about the election and Hillary as a candidate, I could not make good on that threat to replace her.” The Post reported that Brazile had considered replacing Clinton after the nominee briefly collapsed in New York City following a Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony.
But the rules do not give that power solely to the chairwoman of the party. That decision is ultimately made by the DNC after consultation with Democratic leaders in Congress and Democratic governors.
Those who worked on the Clinton campaign sharply criticized Brazile over the book, questioning both the accuracy of her assertions and the motive behind them.
“Her depiction of Brooklyn as an antiseptic, soulless operation is completely divorced from reality, and I question why she would be presenting such a misportrayal,” said Brian Fallon, Clinton’s campaign spokesman, referring to the campaign’s headquarters.
Fallon also said that Brazile vastly overstates her ability to unilaterally change the party nominee. ‘‘It’s headscratching to think that she would have entertained undermining the democratic process,” Fallon said.
A group of almost 100 Clinton campaign staff members, including Fallon, echoed his sentiments, saying of Brazile in a statement: “It is particularly troubling and puzzling that she would seemingly buy into false Russian-fueled propaganda, spread by both the Russians and our opponent, about our candidate’s health.”
Brazile said she could not talk about the contents of the book because of a nondisclosure agreement with her publisher.
Brazile’s book says she was concerned about the faltering Clinton campaign, which, she wrote, had taken on “the odor of failure,” The Post reported.
Brazile’s assertions shed new light on frictions in the Democratic Party and revive lingering tensions between more-mainstream Democrats and the more-liberal supporters of Clinton’s principal challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Brazile, who is black, got in heated disagreements with top Clinton campaign officials and accused them of treating her like a “slave,” according to The Post.
Brazile took over the leadership of the Democratic National Committee in July 2016 after Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., resigned from the post in the wake of the leaking of emails obtained by Russian hackers that showed that party officials were working together to the detriment of Sanders’ campaign.
Brazile is a veteran of many presidential campaigns, including serving as chairwoman of Al Gore’s in 2000.
Her book, “Hacks: The Inside Story of the Breakins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House,” was released Tuesday.