Wasserman Schultz called the issue a 'technical oversight.' DNC chair denies 'discord' over vote

Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Wednesday denied any “discord” over the Democratic Party’s decision to return “God” and “Jerusalem” to the party platform, and said the move “absolutely” received the two-thirds delegate vote required.

“Well, really, it was essentially a technical oversight,” Wasserman Schultz, referring to the reversal, said on CNN. “And President Obama, because he personally believes that Jerusalem is and always should remain the capital of Israel, he made sure that we amended the platform to reflect his personal view as well as reflect the language that we had in the platform in 2008.”


But after the delegates voted by voice, there was some dispute over whether the amendment passed by two-thirds. Some delegates booed the measure, but Wasserman Schultz denied that there was a rift in the convention hall.

“There wasn’t any discord,” Florida’s first Jewish congresswoman said, adding that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the convention chairman who presided over the vote, “had to just make sure that we had a two-thirds vote and when he realized that we did we moved forward.”

”And did you really think that it was two-thirds? It seemed like a lot of people felt like maybe it wasn’t quite there,” CNN reporter Brianna Keilar asked.

“It was absolutely a two-thirds,” Wasserman Schultz said.

Following the interview, a CNN panel was even tougher on her.

“Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, ‘It wasn’t a change of language, there was no discord that we saw and it was a two-thirds vote,’” Anderson Cooper said. “I mean, that’s an alternate universe.”

Quipped CNN’s John King: “If I had a follow-up question, it’d be did she ever get away with ‘the dog ate my homework’?”

Cooper added: “From a reality standpoint, you can defend it, as the head of the DNC, but to say flat-out there was no discord is just not true.”