Through nearly six months of campaigning for Florida's 23rd Congressional District, former Bernie Sanders advisor Tim Canova hadn't heard a peep, at least publicly, from the presidential candidate.
"I’ve had no contact with Bernie Sanders at all," Canova told the Washington Post in February. (Sanders once tapped Canova to sit on a Wall Street-reform committee.) "And I don’t even know if he’s aware of my candidacy."
It took a massive schism within the Democratic Party to change all that. Today, in a clear act of spite against longtime nemesis Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Sanders went on CNN and formally backed Canova for the first time.
"Well, clearly, I favor her opponent," Sanders told CNN's Jake Tapper. "His views are much closer to mine than as to Wasserman Schultz's."
For months, Sanders has accused the Weston congresswoman and Democratic Party Chair of trying to undermine his campaign — after a Democratic Convention in Nevada descended into chaos earlier this month, Sanders and Wasserman Schultz have waged a flat-out media war against one another.
Last Tuesday, Wasserman Schultz hopped on television to tell the world that she found Sanders' response to the violence in Nevada "anything but acceptable."
Sanders' campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, then responded with a full-on attack against the politician formerly known as "Little Debbie."
"You know, by and large, people at the DNC have been very good to us," he said. "Debbie Wasserman Schultz really is the exception."
Analysts across the globe now say the party faces its own "unity crisis," not unlike what Trump has done to the folks on the Right.
In response to Sanders' endorsement, Wasserman Schultz then said this to CNN:
"I am so proud to serve the people of Florida's 23rd district and I am confident that they know that I am an effective fighter and advocate on their behalf in Congress. Even though Senator Sanders has endorsed my opponent, I remain, as I have been from the beginning, neutral in the presidential Democratic primary. I look forward to working together with him for Democratic victories in the fall."
Canova, meanwhile, Tweeted this in response:
I am proud to know that @BernieSanders is favoring our progressive campaign to #RetireDWS. https://t.co/yUyWoN5xBS #ProgressforAll #fl23
— Tim Canova (@Tim_Canova) May 21, 2016
Update: Sanders also posted this endorsement to his campaign website on Sunday.