Republicans are using the scandal created by the release of thousands of Democratic National Committee internal communications to paint Hillary Clinton as untrustworthy and lacking judgement.
The Democrats, meanwhile, are doing damage control within the party, after at least one of the emails shared by WikiLeaks showed officials had favoured Clinton over Bernie Sanders.
Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has resigned, the party has apologized to Sanders, and campaign chairman John Podesta is pointing to between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Here’s a round-up of reactions from all sides of the scandal.
Donald Trump called the emails proof “the rigged system is alive & well” and appealed to Sanders voters to join the Republicans.
If the Republican Convention had blown up with e-mails, resignation of boss and the beat down of a big player. (Bernie), media would go wild
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Even though Bernie Sanders has lost his energy and his strength, I don't believe that his supporters will let Crooked Hillary off the hook!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
The Democrats are in a total meltdown but the biased media will say how great they are doing! E-mails say the rigged system is alive & well!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
The Democrats are in a total meltdown but the biased media will say how great they are doing! E-mails say the rigged system is alive & well!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
The highly neurotic Debbie Wasserman Schultz is angry that, after stealing and cheating her way to a Crooked Hillary victory, she's out!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
How much BAD JUDGEMENT was on display by the people in DNC in writing those really dumb e-mails, using even religion, against Bernie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Crooked Hillary Clinton knew everything that her "servant" was doing at the DNC - they just got caught, that's all! They laughed at Bernie.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Here we go again with another Clinton scandal, and e-mails yet (can you believe). Crooked Hillary knew the fix was in, B never had a chance!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
While Bernie has totally given up on his fight for the people, we welcome all voters who want a better future for our workers.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Bernie Sanders said the party “must always remain neutral” and welcomed Wasserman Schultz’s resignation.
Sanders Statement on DNC Chair Resignation
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders)
The Democratic National Committee said sorry for “inexcusable remarks” and that it is committed to “neutrality.”
“On behalf of everyone at the DNC, we want to offer a deep and sincere apology to Senator Sanders, his supporters, and the entire Democratic Party for the inexcusable remarks made over email. These comments do not reflect the values of the DNC or our steadfast commitment to neutrality during the nominating process. The DNC does not -- and will not -- tolerate disrespectful language exhibited toward our candidates. Individual staffers have also rightfully apologized for their comments, and the DNC is taking appropriate action to ensure it never happens again.
“We are embarking on a convention today that — thanks to the great efforts of Secretary Clinton, her team, Senator Sanders, his team, and the entire Democratic Party — will show a forward-thinking and optimistic vision for America, as compared to the dark and pessimistic vision that the GOP presented last week in Cleveland. Our focus is on electing Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine and Democrats across the country, thanks to Democratic Party that is strong, unified, and poised for victory in November.”
Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee Chairman, downplayed suggestions that Russia was interfering in the election.
Priebus told radio host Hugh Hewitt, “the point is, the Russians didn’t write the emails and neither did whoever else. The WikiLeaks people didn’t write the emails. The DNC wrote those emails.”
“So they have to answer for what those emails say and why paid staff and donors to the DNC were adding an arm to the Hillary Clinton campaign during the primary season,” he went on.
Susan Sarandon, an actress and Sanders supporter, called the DNC’s apparent favouring of Clinton “disgusting.”
"That's so disgusting," she told The Young Turks. "The critical question is, Does it matter? Nixon resigned when they broke into the [DNC] headquarters ... and now you found out all this went on?"
Edward Snowden, the former CIA employee who revealed widespread surveillance, criticized the choice of Donna Brazile as the new DNC chair.
Did the seriously just swap the Chair fired for anti-Sanders bias with a different anti-Sanders official?
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden)
If Russia hacked the , they should be condemned for it. But during the hack, the FBI presented evidence.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden)
Donna Brazile, new DNC Chair, apologized to “Sanders, donors, anyone...”
“This apology is not just to Bernie Sanders,” she told CNN. “It is to donors, to anyone and everyone that clearly we offended in the emails that were revealed, that were hacked, and we want to get to the bottom of what happened. “
David Frum, a former George Bush speechwriter and political commentator, said that the only real news is the apparent Russian interference.
I can’t see a scandal in any of the DNC emails I’ve read to date. Of course the party committee preferred the stronger candidate
— David Frum (@davidfrum)
And the tone of DNC internal communications is a lot less dark & sarcastic than those of, say, a typical media organization
— David Frum (@davidfrum)
Even the biggest news inside the DNC emails is about one/one-zillionth as big as Russian interference in US elections …
— David Frum (@davidfrum)
… and utterly dwarfed by latest strong indication of Kremlin active measures to elect Donald Trump.
— David Frum (@davidfrum)
The news - the real news - in the DNC leak is the information about which US candidate Putin favors and why. That is nuclear-grade news.
— David Frum (@davidfrum)
The strongly evidenced claim that Putin is backing his party’s candidate is a claim that demands much more than a shrug from the RNC chair
— David Frum (@davidfrum)