
Candidates to lead the Democratic National Committee (DNC) doubled down on issues that poll poorly with voters while being shouted down by climate protestors during a Thursday candidate forum at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
The nine contenders to helm the party blamed alleged racist and sexist Americans for tanking former Vice President Kamala Harrisâ decisive defeat in November while defending the ability of illegal migrants to remain in the United States, DEI initiatives and designating President Donald Trump as a fascist threat. The three MSNBC hosts moderating the panel repeatedly expressed frustration with climate protesters affiliated with the Sunrise Movement disrupting the forumâs proceedings with one contender comparing the eveningâs chaos to how voters view the current state of the Democratic Party: weak and adrift.
âIâm a little bit frustrated that they then decided to run this into scream night at the DNC forum,â longshot DNC chair contender, Connecticut attorney Jason Paul, said during the event. âThey hijacked the whole evening.â
âThat is what a lot of people think our party is like,â Paul continued. âThey will come in, they will disrupt, they will shout, they will scream, they will not listen. They will not hear us. They will not be respectful. And that when we let people scream over us, we look weak.â
Climate protesters allegedly disrupted the forum to pressure the candidates to ban the DNC from taking corporate PAC donations and prohibit Super PAC spending in Democratic primaries, according to a Sunrise Movement press release following the event.
The candidate forum comes as the Democratic Partyâs approval rating is nearing historic lows.
Just 31% of registered voters approve of the Democratic Party while 57% disapprove, handing Democrats a 26% net unfavorable rating, according to polling released by Quinnipiac on Jan. 29.
Nine contenders are running to replace current DNC chairman, former South Carolina Senate contender Jamie Harrison, after he announced he would not seek another term. Harrison notably presided over the party losing the popular vote for the first time since 2004, failing to take back the House and shedding four Senate seats in November.
Amid heated debate in the Democratic Party about how to respond to Novemberâs bruising election losses, nearly every contender reverted back to issues that voters appeared to reject in November.
âFascism is literally in the House,â frequent Democratic presidential candidate and DNC chair contender Marianne Williamson, said onstage. âWhat is about to happen is that for the first time â that in less than 100 years â a generation of Americans is having to defeat the lure of fascism once more.â
Every contender agreed with MSNBC host Jonathan Capehartâs question about whether voters alleged racism and misogyny contributed to Harrisâ resounding defeat in November.
When asked by DNC members about increasing transgender and Muslim representation in the Partyâs leadership, every candidate committed to deepening the organizationâs focus on race-based initiatives that did not appear to resonate with voters.
Trump notably won in November with the most racially diverse coalition a Republican president has put together in decades.
âRacism has not gone away since 20 people of African descent came upon these shores at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 and itâs going to require us think and behave in a new way,â Quintessa Hathaway, a DNC chair contender said during the forum. âIt is systemic. It is structural when it comes to addressing diversity, equity, inclusion, access and belonging that is for all people of the United States.â
âI think we need to come to reckoning that the President is forwarding something called a narrative thatâs based on a white supremacist narrative called the great replacement theory,â former Biden Department of Homeland security official and DNC chair candidate Nate Snyder said during the forum. âThatâs his master narrative thatâs feeding into everything. Itâs a language in the EOs , itâs a language in his legislation. Itâs a language that attacks that we heard today, attacking DEIA and especially the disability community as well.â
Faiz Shakir, who ran independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sandersâ 2020 presidential candidate, appeared to be the only contender to articulate a new vision that sought to leave the Democratic Partyâs focus on identity Politics behind.
âI am frustrated by the way in which we utilize identity to break ourselves apart,â Shakir said in a response to a question asking the DNC to commit to increasing transgender representation that reflects the âgender and ethnic diversity of the transgender community.â âThese caucuses, councils all separate us out and donât focus on what brings us all together, and then we find ourselves competing ⌠weâre competing over the wrong thing, competing over scarce resources. We should be joining together, programming mission to fight together.â
Shakir is not expected to prevail in the Partyâs elections on Saturday. The three frontrunners are Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman Ben Wikler, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chairman Ken Martin and former Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin OâMalley.
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