Gen Z DNC Delegate Rejects Democrats, Says She’s Joining Republican Party
The former DNC delegate explained that she became disillusioned after attending the DNC
Uncommitted delegates camp outside DNC after dozens vote 'present' rather than for Harris at convention roll call
About 40 or so uncommitted delegates and their supporters slept on the sidewalk outside the United Center in Chicago on Wednesday night in hopes that the DNC will permit a pro-Palestinian speaker to take the main stage before the convention concludes Thursday night.
"We didn’t come here to do a sit-in," claimed Abbas Alawieh, a delegate from Michigan and a leader of the Uncommitted National Movement, which supports a ceasefire in Gaza. "We’re just sitting here waiting for a call."
The group noted that the parents of American hostage Hersh Goldberg were allowed to address the DNC main crowd on Wednesday night and hoped that a Palestinian speaker would be afforded the same opportunity.
"We heard Hersh's story," Alawieh continued. "We were moved by ... the humanity in that story. And we are Democrats who have a party platform that says our party values every ... life and every Palestinian life equally. And so we think we should also be featuring a Palestinian-American speaker from this stage."
'I am sad to report that 32,908 Democratic Kentuckians’ voices were not upheld at last night’s roll call.'
Layla Elabed, another leader of the Uncommitted National Movement and the sister of far-left Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), went further, claiming that a pro-Palestinian speaker was the "bare minimum" that her group expected from Democrats.
"This has been an embarrassment for those of us who had faith in the Democratic Party that we still had voices here," Elabed said.
"Our values, our votes and our rightful place in the Democratic Party cannot be taken for granted," she stated on Monday night.
Uncommitted Rhode Island delegate June Rose likewise called a pro-Palestinian speaker "the least [the DNC] could do."
"We need meaningful policy change," Rose continued. "We as Democrats cannot oppose Donald Trump’s fascism at home while supporting Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocide abroad."
Thus far, the sit-in has drawn some high-profile elected Democrats, including Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, to stop by. UAW members of like mind have also offered their support.
"If we want the war in Gaza to end, we can’t put our heads in the sand or ignore the voices of the Palestinian Americans in the Democratic party," the union said.
Convention officials have allowed pro-Palestinian speakers to address smaller DNC meetings and events but not the main stage. As a result, members of the group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz have officially disbanded and withdrawn their support for the Democratic ticket, as Blaze News previously reported.
The sit-in began just one day after 44 delegates voted "present" during the DNC roll call on Tuesday, the Daily Caller reported. Those 44 delegates represent 13 states — Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, and Washington — and likely included most of the 36 delegates who are also members of the Uncommitted movement.
The in-person roll-call vote was largely symbolic, however, since the DNC already hosted a virtual roll call earlier this month, and Harris received more than double the 1,966 delegate votes needed to secure the nomination.
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Democrat former presidential candidate Rep. Phillips laments rushed process to nominate Kamala Harris
The second-place finisher in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), regrets that his party did not follow a more democratic process to nominate Kamala Harris after Joe Biden dropped his bid for a second term last month.
"My core principle is that competition is the vitamin of democracy and that, yes, we should have run a different process from the beginning, which was simply to invite other candidates. That didn’t happen," Phillips told Breitbart News at the DNC on Monday.
'We should be enhancing competition, encouraging debate, welcoming candidates, not suppressing and not discouraging.'
Phillips also hinted to Nexstar that he feels vindicated for primarying Biden, sounding the alarm bells last fall that the 81-year-old president needed to step aside in favor of younger candidates.
"'I told you so' has never served me well, and I think we can all relate to that in our personal and professional relationships," Phillips said.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Phillips admitted that his primary run angered many of his fellow Democrats, but he insisted that many of those relationships have since been mended.
"I’ve had a lot of wonderful reach outs and hugs and high-fives from a lot of interesting corners of the party," he told the outlet.
"Just on a very personal, human level, it feels good, kind of like being back at the popular table in the cafeteria," he shared with Nexstar.
At the DNC, Phillips expressed gratitude that Biden ultimately left the race and even suggested that Kamala Harris is the right candidate to replace Biden. Phillips just wishes the DNC delegates had gone about nominating her a different way.
"It worked out well this time, but that won’t always be the case. And we were this close, this close to what I’d call another democratic disaster, and I want to be wary of that in the future," he explained to Breitbart News.
"Generally speaking, yes, we should be enhancing competition, encouraging debate, welcoming candidates, not suppressing and not discouraging."
Though some in his party apparently had misgivings for some time about a possible second Biden term, Phillips was the only person to openly challenge the president.
Phillips' campaign, however, never gained much traction as Democrat primary voters overwhelmingly stuck by Biden. At a particularly low point in the primary process, Phillips held an outdoor coffee event in New Hampshire in January — and not a single prospective voter attended.
"Sometimes if you build it, they don’t come," he reportedly joked at the time.
In the end, Phillips dropped out of the primary in March, having garnered just five total delegates to Biden's 3,900. Even in his home state of Minnesota, Phillips ran a distant third place behind Biden and "uncommitted."
Harris did not even participate in the primary and did not earn a single primary vote. Yet, almost as soon as Biden dropped out, state delegates announced their support for her.
Still, Phillips is pleased with the results. "I think, in light of what did transpire, there’s no better outcome that we could have hoped for than the one that actually transpired," he told Breitbart News on Monday.
"I knew it’d probably cost my career, probably cost some friendships, probably cost my standing in this party — and it did. But I’m celebrating today because the objective, at least half of it, has been achieved," he added to Fox News Digital.
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