The Democratic National Convention kicked off Monday night to a rather tumultuous start.
After leaked emails showed the Democratic National Committee was against Bernie Sanders from the start, its leader, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, stepped down.
She had planned to attend the DNC in Philadelphia, however after being greeted by protesters, angered over the blatant favoritism by the committee, she decided to sit this one out.
“I have decided that in the interest of making sure that we can start the Democratic convention on a high note that I am not going to gavel in the convention,” Wasserman Schultz told the Sun Sentinel. She added,
“I stepped down [as DNC chairwoman] the other day because I wanted to make sure that having brought us to this momentous day and to Philadelphia and planned the convention that is going to be the best one that we’ve ever had in our party’s history that this needs to be all about making sure that everyone knows that Hillary Clinton would make the best president.”
What could possibly bring Bernie and Hillary supporters together after such a bumpy kickoff to the convention? Comedian Sarah Silverman.
On Monday, the actress took to the podium to address the democratic party and the national as a whole. Her speech, while about 5 minutes and 30 seconds long, had one blunt message: Get over it.
She started her speech, after telling Al Franken to exit stage left, that she still supports Bernie Sanders “and the movement behind him.” She went on to list his commendable accomplishments along his campaign route, first and foremost being that he woke America up to “what we deserve” like quality education and healthcare for all.
She explained she supports Hillary because she heard the cries of Bernie’s supporters and has vowed to move forward with many of his campaign promises. As Sarah said, she will “vote will Hillary with gusto,” but that she will move forward with supporting Bernie’s mission forever and always.
Yes, Sarah admittedly supports Bernie, but, she also supports the Democratic party. So with one swift sentence, Sarah brought the party together by saying:
To the Bernie-or-bust people, you’re being ridiculous.
And with that, her speech ended with a resounding applause and cheers of “Hillary! Hillary!” Franken, who re-entered the stage after Silverman, said it best, “This, is the power of comedy.” Check out the full speech below.
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