EMILY's List: Sanders headlining Women's Convention 'sends the wrong message'

[pnwmom]

80. Tamika Mallory walked back her statement about Bernie being the headliner

AFTER there was so much of a backlash. She switched from saying Waters was "also coming" to claiming she was delivering the keynote. Even she recognized they had blown it.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/10/12/bernie-sanders-speech-womens-convention/756825001/

When Women's March co-founder Tamika Mallory was asked: "People are going to say, wait a minute, there’s a man as the headliner at the Women’s Convention, the first women’s convention in 40 years?" she replied:

"I would say that (U.S. Rep.) Maxine Waters is also coming to the conference, and we know she has been a very, very powerful voice in terms of all we’ve seen happening in terms of this administration, particularly, and she’ll be at the conference as well. And a lot of other people have been invited to the conference and we’re hoping to hear back from these folks. Thankfully, SenatorSanders has agreed to attend."


From your link:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/12/16465012/womens-march-bernie-sanders

In a statement to Vox, organizers with the Women’s March defended the decision to give Sanders the opening-night slot. They said that several prominent female Democrats — including Clinton, as well as Sens. Kamala Harris (CA), Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) — had been unable to attend. (Staffers for Harris and Warren confirmed they were invited to participate at the event.)

“We all know how busy women leaders are, and we are grateful for the support of women like Secretary Clinton along with Senators Harris, Warren and Gillibrand. Although their schedules did not allow them to join us in Detroit the weekend of October 27, they will be fighting for our shared values, as they do every day,” a statement from the group said. Harris will be in Rhode Island on Oct. 27 helping Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse raise money for his reelection bid, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Still, it wasn’t clear if the Women’s March had offered Warren, Harris, and Gillibrand the same slot given to Sanders. A statement from the Women’s March said they were invited to “participate.” Officials with the organization wouldn’t confirm if any of the Democratic women had been first invited as the opening-night speaker, as Sanders appears to have been.

In its statement, the Women’s March also emphasized that more than 60 women — including Waters, United We Dream’s Greisa Martinez, and Our Revolution’s Nina Turner — are going to speak prominently at the convention. “Our program features more than 60 women leading in activism, organizing and advocacy, as well as grassroots leaders running for and serving in office across the country,” the organization said. “We are excited to come together, to unite across our differences and to fight for the future we all believe in.”