DNC chair Schultz resigns following WikiLeaks revelations

Debbie Wasserman Schultz has said she will step down as Democratic National Committee chairwoman at the end of party's convention following WikiLeaks’ revelations which indicated that the committee plotted against Bernie Sanders.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Wasserman Schultz said the "best way" for her to accomplish the goals of the party was for her "to step down as Party Chair," after the DNC's Convention, which runs from Monday to Thursday in Philadelphia.

The DNC’s Vice Chair Donna Brazile will serve as the Interim Chair until an election for the position takes place, according to DNC Communications Director, Luis Miranda. 

Only moments after the announcement, the Republican National Committee tweeted that Wasserman Schultz was “out after [the] rigged system [had been] exposed” and that the Democratic Convention was “off to a good start.”

Her resignation comes after Wikileaks revelations proved Bernie Sanders’ claims that she and other top brass in the DNC actively worked against him to stall his bid to be presidential nominee for the party.

Since early in his bid to become the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, Sanders had said Wasserman Schultz and the DNC favored Hillary Clinton as the party’s main candidate and had been actively working to quell any chance of Sanders clinching the nomination.

READ MORE: Sanders supporters sue DNC & Debbie Wasserman Schultz for rigging the system

Speaking after her resignation announcement President Barack Obama said that over his eight years in office, she “had my back”. 

“For the last eight years, Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has had my back,” Obama said in a statement. “This afternoon, I called her to let her know that I am grateful.”

“Her critical role in supporting our economic recovery, our fights for social and civil justice and providing healthcare for all Americans will be a hallmark of her tenure as Party Chair.”

Hillary Clinton thanked for “longtime friend” for her “leadership of the Democratic National Committee” and was “grateful to Debbie for getting the Democratic Party to this year’s historic convention.”

“I am glad that she has agreed to serve as honorary chair of my campaign’s 50 state program to gain ground and elect Democrats in every part of the country, and will continue to serve as a surrogate for my campaign nationally, in Florida, and other key states,” Clinton added.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has also weighed in on the announcement, saying that he had “always said that Debbie Wasserman Schultz was overrated.”

“The Dems Convention is cracking up and Bernie is exhausted, no energy left!,” Trump tweeted.

Earlier on Sunday, Sanders had called for Wasserman Schultz to resign and that he was “not shocked” at the damning revelations in the WikiLeaks dump.

“I think we need a new chair who is going to lead us in a very different direction, that is taking on the billionaire class and fighting for an agenda that works for working families,” Sanders told ABC’s This Week earlier, adding that “these emails reiterate that reason why she should not be the chair.”

“I think I told you a long time ago that the DNC was not running a fair operation, that they were supporting Secretary Clinton,” Sanders said. “So what I suggested to be true six months ago turns out, in fact, to be true. I’m not shocked, but I am disappointed, and that is the way it is.”