Democratic figures have hit out against Vice President Kamala Harris, her choice of running mate, and how she ran her campaign following the vice president’s crushing election defeat to Donald Trump.
The nature of the presidential election loss, as well as the party losing control of the Senate and possibly the House to the GOP, has left some Democrats angry and questioning the future of the party.
A number of Democratic lawmakers, operatives, and aides have now given their views on why Harris suffered such a heavy loss in the November 5 election. These range from her choosing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as the vice presidential candidate, failing to distance herself enough from President Joe Biden, to the party abandoning working class voters.
Others have laid the blame purely on Biden for not dropping out of the 2024 race sooner and for giving Harris the difficult job of winning over voters after he recorded at times historically low approval ratings. Biden’s term in office saw high levels of inflation and a cost of living crisis, with voters frequently citing the economy as their number one election issue.
Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, blamed the party and its leadership for ignoring working class voters during the “disastrous” campaign.
“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sanders said in a statement.
“First it was the working class, and now it is Latino and Black voters as well. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.”