Jerry Springer on Hillary Sticking by Wasserman Schultz: 'I Trust Her Judgment'

PHILADELPHIA – TV host Jerry Springer defended Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s decision to make Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) an honorary chairwoman of her campaign after she stepped down as head of the Democratic National Committee over the Wikileaks email dump.

“I trust her judgment. She knows what she is doing. Loyalty counts. It wasn’t a smart thing, what Debbie Wasserman Schultz did. It wasn’t and it was a mistake. You know, in this business you admit your mistakes. You resign. It’s an honorary position,” Springer said. “You don’t just turn your back on friends, even sometimes when they do bad things. It is not going to hurt anyone else in the country by having her as the honorary chair – you know what I mean? And it will probably help her in Florida, which is not insignificant.”

In a statement after the Wasserman Schultz announced her resignation, Clinton said, “There’s simply no one better at taking the fight to the Republicans than Debbie – which is why 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 in other key states.”

Pro-Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) protests continued throughout the day outside of the Wells Fargo Center, sparked by the leaked internal DNC emails that showed favoritism toward Clinton during the primary process. PJM asked Springer, former mayor of Cincinnati, why a Sanders supporter should support Clinton.

“The easy answer is Trump. Here’s the thing. Bernie Sanders ran a great campaign. I love him on the issues and he has helped move the Democratic platform to a more liberal stance and frankly I think he’s helped move Hillary Clinton a little more to the left. So it’s working, but now we don’t want to lose every benefit that may have come from his efforts by losing this election – and then all of a sudden we have a right-wing Supreme Court,” Springer said.

“We already have a right-wing Congress. We’ll then have a right-wing Senate. I mean, this is crazy. We’re trying to punish ourselves. So, fight hard to see that Bernie got it. It didn’t work out this time but certainly moved the party to the left, which was certainly the aim of the Sanders’ people,” he added.

Springer predicted that most Sanders supporters are going to vote for Clinton and that she would win in November. GOP nominee Donald Trump has encouraged Sanders’ supporters to come to his side since he is a D.C. outsider who campaigned on a “rigged system” in the GOP primary. Springer was asked if he thinks some of Sanders’ supporters would move to Trump.

“Well, then they are not sincere about – I’m assuming they were sincere about what they believe. There’s nothing about Bernie Sanders that’s racist. There’s nothing about Bernie Sanders that said if you are Hispanic, you know, I’m going to degrade you, we are going to deport people. If you are Muslim, we won’t let you in the country, stuff like that. Bernie Sanders is not like that,” he said.

Springer said he has attended all of the Democratic conventions since 1972.

“I’m a lifelong Democrat and you know, I really love Hillary Clinton and I want her to be the president. And I’m working really hard to see that happen. I also do a podcast and I do it once it week. It’s a political rant along with music and comedy, and we’re doing the podcast from here as well,” he said.