Debbie Wassermann Schultz, the outgoing Democratic Party boss, was booed by delegates from her own home state over the party's leaked emails. The row kicked off the party's national convention in Philadelphia in a chaotic fashion.
In a sign of the internal party tensions that has overshadowed the start of the four-day convention, the Florida congresswoman took the brunt of the anger of Bernie Sanders's supporters protesting over Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails that show the party's bias in favour of Hillary Clinton during the primary election.
Protesters, wearing Sanders T-shirts and badges held signs that said “Emails,” “No!” and “Thanks for the help, Debbie” and shouting “Shame!” and “Fair elections!”, disrupted a pre-convention breakfast hosted by the Florida delegation.
The protests were prompted by internal emails that appeared on Wikileaks on Friday.
The scandal has already led to Ms Wasserman Schultz announcing on Sunday that she would stand down as chairwoman of the DNC at the end of the convention, but this was not enough for Sanders supporters.
The Florida representative said in her resignation announcement that she would stay on as chairwoman throughout the convention, delivering opening and closing remarks – a move that threatened to cause severe disruption to a convention intended to unify the party for the general election.
However, Ms Wasserman Schultz later bowed to pressure and agreed to stand down from her duties gavelling the opening of the Democratic convention.
Mr Sanders and his supporters complained bitterly about the Democratic Party tipping the scales in favour of Mrs Clinton during the party’s primary.
The leaked emails confirm those suspicions and undermine party unity at a critical time in the campaign when the party looks to coalesce support against Republicans.
“It is so wonderful to be able to be here with my home state,” Ms Wasserman Schultz told the Florida delegation at the morning meeting, to heckles and jeers. “All right everybody now, settle down. Everybody settle down, please.”
Even when she tried to inject a more sombre tone into the event, referring to Sunday night’s shooting in Fort Myers that left two dead and more than a dozen injured, the heckling and jeering continued.
Despite the disruption, she defiantly insisted that she would remain involved in the presidential campaign.
“You will see me every day between now and November 8th on the campaign trail, and we will lock arms and we will not stand down,” she insisted.
Several Clinton supporters have spoken out against Ms Wasserman Schultz speaking at the convention. "Well, let me preface it by saying I really like Debbie, but I wouldn't," Ed Rendell, a former governor of Pennsylvania, said when asked whether she should speak.
