Top Democratic fundraiser says DNC official should be fired after email leak
Philadelphia — One of the Democratic Party’s top fundraisers said Monday that the Democratic National Committee should fire its chief financial officer for suggesting in a leaked email that Bernie Sanders should be pressed on whether he is an atheist.
“I think he should be fired,” Ben Barnes, a veteran Washington lobbyist and onetime protégé of President Lyndon Johnson, said in an interview with Yahoo News’ Michael Isikoff about the controversial email sent by DNC chief financial officer Brad Marshall.
“I think he should be asked to resign. I think that anybody that put in an email something like that email, about Bernie Sander’s faith and religion — that has no place in politics,” he continued.
Marshall suggested in the leaked email that Sanders should be pressed about his beliefs as he faced off against Hillary Clinton, who is set to be nominated for president this week. “Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist,” he wrote in the email.
“Most of the people that have been around a long time — and that’s the only real qualification I have at this convention — people like myself all feel very, very bad that that type of language, and that kind of thought, and that kind of campaign gimmick would be used in a Democratic primary or even in a general election,” Barnes said.
Marshall apologized on Facebook over the weekend for what he called his “insensitive” comments in the email.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, the DNC also said it wanted to “offer a deep and sincere apology to Senator Sanders, his supporters and the entire Democratic Party for the inexcusable remarks made over email.” The party assured the public that it was “taking appropriate action to ensure it never happens again.”
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