Convention Delegate Doesn’t Regret Flipping The Bird In Philly
Hawaii’s聽Democratic Party chair apologized for the actions of Sanders supporter Chelsea Lyons Kent. But Kent isn’t apologizing.
The Hawaii delegate聽who made an obscene gesture聽at the Democrats’ national convention聽in Philadelphia stands by her action.
“I’m聽sorry about听迟丑别 way it has affected聽other people, but the DNC has been flipping聽us the bird since聽day one and it’s about time that someone flipped them back,” Chelsea Lyons Kent said in a phone interview聽Wednesday, referring to听迟丑别 .
On Tuesday, just as聽U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced part of the Hawaii delegation’s support for Hillary Clinton on the convention floor, Kent聽raised a middle finger and smiled.
The moment, captured on video, quickly circulated online. Former Gov. John Waihee and U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono flanked Schatz in the excerpt, and all three appeared unaware of what happened behind them.
Kent, a leader in the聽Sanders’ local campaign, said she was angry over the behavior of the DNC for favoring the Clinton campaign at the expense of Sanders.
“I think聽that they鈥檙e just steamrolling聽us so blatantly and they just聽put on this entertainment聽cycle, but it is a sham of democracy聽and our voices are not being heard,” she said. “We were told to go on with聽this unity, but you can’t have unity without聽trust.”
Tim Vandeveer, chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, and announced that her聽floor credentials were revoked for the rest of the convention after she refused to apologize.
“Delegates of both campaigns have expressed their shock and disappointment at the incident and have asked me to stress that this in no way reflects the sentiments of the rest of our delegation, regardless of their candidate affiliation,” said Vandeveer, himself a Sanders delegate. He was standing near聽Kent but partially obscured聽by flowers.
(Big Island Rep. Joy San Buenaventura was pictured between Kent and Vandeveer.)
Kent said she was not surprised by Vandeveer’s decision and said she could choose to challenge it but will not. Instead, she said she is participating in听迟丑别 protests outside the聽Wells Fargo Center that began Monday are likely to continue through the end of the convention Thursday.
“I am joining the protests with all the other聽delegates who have had their credentials stripped聽along聽with the thousands聽outside,” she said.聽“It’s very聽hot聽but聽it has聽not stopped anybody.”
Sanders has endorsed Clinton and warned that Democrats must stop Republican nominee Donald Trump. But some of Sanders’聽supporters booed him when he spoke at the convention.
Because Sanders easily won the Democrats’ Hawaii presidential preference poll in late March, he received 17 delegates to Clinton’s eight. On Tuesday, with the state’s super-delegates factored in, it was 19 for Sanders and 15 for Clinton.
Reaction from other Hawaii folks has been mixed.
Bart Dame of Oahu, who led the Sanders organizing in Hawaii, wrote on Facebook that Kent’s behavior was “inappropriate” but “very understandable”:
The fixation on Chelsea flipping the bird is a deflection from what is important here. She expressed, crudely, what a lot of people feel. The DNC has “disrespected” the Sanders campaign and his supporters for the last 15 months. It was only when the DNC emails were leaked, that they felt obliged to let Debbie Wasserman Schultz go. There have been no guarantees that the DNC will take steps to remain neutral in the future. No other staffers appear to have been fired. There is a dishonest attitude as though the DNC would have otherwise remain neutral.
Dylan Hooser of Kauai, who was聽left of Kent in the video when she made the gesture, had a different opinion.
The son of Kauai Council member Gary Hooser said on Facebook, “The finger move was lame. And inconsiderate of how it might reflect on the rest of us. Some of you think it’s funny. Try living in my shoes. People who already dislike me and my family just get to use it as ammo to undermine a lot of hard work we have done in our state.”
The Bernie bird on Tuesday was a very different species than the one famously at a rally in Portland, Ore., last spring.
In their reporting, and the blurred images of Kent’s hand to obscure the gesture.
