Bernie Sanders Endorses Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Progressive Challenger

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders announced in an interview released late Saturday that he would be backing Tim Canova, the progressive challenger running to unseat incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fl.) in the congressional race for Florida’s 23rd district.

Wasserman Schultz has been a highly controversial chair of the DNC this primary season, and is widely perceived by many Sanders supporters as rigging the primary to bolster establishment candidate Hillary Clinton over Sanders’ progressive campaign.

“Well, clearly, I favor her opponent,” Sanders told Jake Tapper of CNN’s State of the Union. “His views are much closer to mine than to Wasserman Shultz’s.”

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Canova, who teaches at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, “was asked in 2011 to serve on Sanders’ Wall Street reform advisory panel,” notes CNN, and his progressive values are closely aligned with those that Sanders has fought for throughout his political career.

Sanders followed up on the CNN interview with a fundraising email on Canova’s behalf Sunday morning. In the email, Sanders told his supporters why he supports Canova’s candidacy:

In a statement, Canova responded to Sanders’ endorsement and highlighted the connections between their campaigns: 

During the State of the Union interview, Sanders also took the opportunity to highlight his displeasure with Wasserman Schultz’s tenure as DNC chair. 

“And let me also say this,” Sanders said. “In all due respect to the current chairperson, if elected president she would not be reappointed to be chair of the DNC.”

Journalists and commentators Bill Moyers and Michael Winship outlined the recent ways in which Wasserman Schultz has so aggrieved Sanders supporters during this primary—such as her defense of the contentious rule-changes and dubious voice votes at Nevada’s chaotic Democratic convention:

In a statement to NBC, Wasserman Schultz “said she has been neutral in the race and would remain so despite Sanders’ support of Canova.”

“Even though Senator Sanders has endorsed my opponent I remain, as I have been from the beginning, neutral in the Presidential Democratic primary. I look forward to working together with him for Democratic victories in the fall,” read the statement, according to NBC.