Outgoing California Democratic Party chairman John Burton left his post of eight years on Saturday by waving his middle fingers in the air and rallying his party’s annual convention to chant “F*ck Donald Trump!”
Video was posted onlin
Cameras also captured House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi laughing as Burton flipped off the president. Former Obama administration Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis was also spotted relishing in the event.
At one point during the convention, Burton reportedly told a universal healthcare protester to “Put your f*ing sign down man, we’re all for it. Jesus Christ.” According to the San Jose Mercury News, he previously told a larger group of protesters, “There’s some people who have been fighting for that issue before you guys were born. You ought to get on with it.”
Also on Saturday, longtime Democratic leader Eric Bauman was elected as chairman of the California Democratic Party Saturday, by just over 60 votes. But his rival, Kimberly Ellis, refused to concede, and has reportedly stated that she is in touch with attorneys over the matter.
“This race is not done,” Ellis told hundreds of her supporters, who were calling for a recount at the California Democratic Convention, according to the Los Angeles Times. She reportedly added, “We will see you all in the morning.”
Bauman, on the other hand, issued a victory message to his supporters:
There is no denying that there is a problem when so many of our hardworking activists feel that they are not welcome within our Party and that they have been slighted and shut out of the process. We cannot win the vital elections in 2018 and beyond without the energy, commitment and participation of every part of our Democratic family.
Bauman has headed the Los Angeles County Democratic since 2000 and has served as the Golden State’s Democratic party vice chairman since 2009. His victory in the race placed a spotlight on the nationwide battle between the party’s establishment and more progressive wing. According to the Times, “Bauman was a favorite of the party establishment, while Ellis drew the backing of liberals who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders in last year’s presidential primary.”
He recently endorsed Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) to chair the Democratic National Committee. Former Secretary of labor Tom Perez won the chairmanship, but appointed Ellison as his deputy chair.
Saturday’s convention also saw some drama when a convention staff employee interrupted Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), as she spoke at the African American Caucus meeting, to ask her to shorten her speech.
As soon as the man approached Waters’s podium, one of the women sitting on stage to her left shouted, “Hey, hey, hey, hey.” Another woman in the audience could be heard saying, “leave her alone.” Soon after that, one of the men seated on stage stood up and starting pushing the man away from the congresswoman’s podium.
Waters continued, “That’s alright. That’s okay. They try to shut me up all the time.” Some audience members stood up, and the room broke into applause.
Waters, who has been calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, was talking about Trump’s decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey and his meetings with the Russian ambassador and foreign minister.
In the back of the room, the man who had asked Waters to wrap up her speech was surrounded by what appeared to be several members of Waters team. Some chanted to Waters, “Keep going! Keep going!”
At one point during her talk, the microphone was cut off, but Waters kept talking.
African American Caucus Chair Darren Parker said, “Our caucus pays for this room… And it has been tradition if we were going to run over that we pay additional fees.” He added, “I have never, ever seen anyone from staff walk up to a speaker, interrupt the speaker and then cut off the sound.” He said, “Damn it, we will not tolerate this!” and thumped his fist on the table before the audience broke into applause.
According to the Sacramento Bee, the three-day convention also had a raucous start Friday, as liberal activists booed and heckled DNC Chair Tom Perez after they marched from the state Capitol to the convention center to promote a universal heath care program.
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Photo: file
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