Democrats’ big mistakes and their crushing defeat: Parker

Democrats are deeply shaken by the 2024 election and by Trump’s win in the popular vote. Here’s what they got wrong and why they lost. — Image credit: Reuters

A wide-ranging blame game ensued in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. 2024 presidential race, with Democrats offering many different explanations to try to understand why and how they lost Congress, the White House and the popular mandate all at once. Much of that criticism turned inward, as liberals critiqued themselves and asked what they should have done differently to earn more support from the American people.

Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Star Parker examines criticisms of the Democrats from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria and others. Parker breaks down why Democrats have lost significant support and explores what this shift could mean for Republican opportunities over the next four years.

Be the first to know when Star Parker publishes a new opinion! Download the Straight Arrow News app and enable push notifications today!

The following is an excerpt from the above video:

Senator Bernie Sanders, he believes the Democratic Party has abandoned the working-class people, and says they failed to tackle wage inequality and costly health care. Post-election polling by the Democrat strategy group Blueprint found that the top reason that voters gave for not supporting Kamala Harris was that inflation was too high, and that [was], in particular, a problem for working-class voters, [and] was not addressed. However, nearly as many voters said that they didn’t support Harris because too many illegal immigrants crossed the border under the Biden-Harris administration. For swing voters who eventually chose Trump, their main objection to Harris was that she was focused more on cultural matters, like transgender issues, rather than helping the middle class. The number two concern of those Trump swing voters was inflation.

Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, oh, he’s been vilified for saying that his party is out of step with the American people about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. We’ve got to be able to have these debates, Moulton says, but instead, we have a wing of our party that shames us, that tries to cancel people who try to even bring up these difficult topics, and frankly, voters are shamed.

CNN host Fareed Zakaria, okay, he rebuked Democrats for misreading the public opinion on immigration, weaponizing the legal system against Trump, and fixating on identity politics. Zakaria said that [the] fixation on identity politics “…largely came out of the urban academic bubble,” and it “…alienated many mainstream voters.”

Democrats were shocked about the scope of their election defeat, and factions within the party are expressing conflicting opinions about what caused it. President Trump won all seven battleground states and the popular vote Republicans won four Senate seats to claim a majority, and House Republicans have retained their majority senator, Bernie Sanders. He believes the Democrat Party has abandoned the working class people, and says they failed to tackle wage inequality and costly health care. Post election polling by the Democrat Strategy Group blueprint found that the top reason that voters gave for not supporting Kamala Harris was that inflation was too high, and that, in particular, a problem for working class voters, was not addressed. However, nearly as many voters said that they didn’t support Harris because too many illegal immigrants cross the border under the Biden Harris administration, for swing voters who eventually chose Trump, their main objection to Harris was that she was focused more on cultural matters, like transgender issues, rather than helping the middle class. The number two concern of those Trump swing voters was inflation. Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, oh, he’s been vilified for saying that his party is out of step with the American people about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. We’ve got to be able to have these debates. Moulton says, but instead, we have a wing of our party that shames us, that tries to cancel people who try to even bring up these difficult topics, and frankly, voters are shamed.

CNN host Fareed zakara, okay, he rebuked Democrats for misreading the public opinion on immigration, weaponizing the legal system against Trump and fixating on identity politics. Zakaria said that in that fixation on identity politics, end quote, largely came out of the urban academic bubble. End Quote, and it, end quote, alienated many mainstream voters. End Quote The CNN host cited the left’s insistence on using the term Latinx, even though it is not well received in the Latino community, there’s an irony in claiming to be so pro Latino by insisting that people use a term Latinx that only to discover that Latinos themselves think that the word is pretty weird. That’s what he was thinking. And said, the Trump campaign tapped into swing voters, alienation from Democrats, promotion of these trans issues and the overbearing nature of their cultural speech police. They have a speech police with and I’m telling you, the Trump campaign honed in on that, and they ran ads in which the narrator said, Kamala is for they them, President Trump is for you. Democrats need to make a course correction if they want to regain any type of support from the American people. President Trump and the Republicans, oh, they have an opportunity to steer the economy and social policy in a better direction, but they’re going to need to communicate and act in a manner that brings the American people along with them, to retain their trust this olive branch of mercy that the Republicans have received and now are in Washington, DC, to implement their agenda. Up next, that’s what we’re going to be watching. You.