California Delegates Deeply Divided Despite Talk of Unity

PHILADELPHIA (CN) - Former Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday assured the California delegation that after four days in Philadelphia, the Democratic party is unified and ready for whatever GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump can dish out.

But deep rifts continued to divide the delegation, even as Holder spoke.

"We leave this city united as a party," Holder said. "But we also leave committed to the principles that always made Democrats and the Democratic party the party that has led this country, that is responsible for all of the great social changes that have made this nation truly exceptional."

Seeking to foster some of the unity he proclaimed, Holder thanked Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran a fierce opposition to Clinton in the primary, for bringing to the forefront many of the progressive issues that found their way onto the party platform adopted earlier this week.

Holder also told delegates it is "frightening" to think about Donald Trump serving as successor to President Barack Obama, under whom Holder served, and presented the Republican candidate as dangerous.

The unity that Holder proclaimed, however, was not exactly on display among members of the California delegation Thursday morning.

A group of Sanders supporters disrupted the breakfast by gathering in the front of the ballroom that held the event, holding signs and shouting "count our votes."

Some Sanders supporters claim "massive" voter fraud occurred in California and other states across the country that cost the Vermont senator the election. Some think that, even though Clinton officially won the nomination by 3.5 million votes, Sanders actually earned more.

"We want a new party," said one protestor who declined to give her name told Courthouse News.

Frustration seemed to be bubbling over in some members of the California delegation, where much of the anti-Clinton sentiment from Sanders supporters this week has originated.

Several Clinton supporters in the delegation got in shouting matches with the protestors while they were disrupting the meeting. One Sanders supporter shouted "cheaters never win" at a Clinton supporter who was chanting "Hillary, Hillary" in an effort to drown out the protests.

"I think at this point in time these people are narcissistic and it's about them," California delegate Judy Lund-Bell told Courthouse News.

She said she likes Sanders' message but worried the hard line some of his supporters are taking on Clinton might be damaging the impact his message can have.

"I like Bernie," Lund-Bell said. "I think a lot of what he says is very good and very important."

"These people just can't get past it," she added later.

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