President Trump couldn’t resist making fun of Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Thursday, urging Democrats not to kick them out of their positions — as the party descends into civil war over its devastating loss in Georgia earlier this week.
Trump tweeted Thursday morning that he hoped “Democrats do not force Nancy P out.” “That would be very bad for the Republican Party – and please let Cryin’ Chuck stay!” he added, a reference to Schumer’s propensity for waterworks.
Trump’s comments come as rank-and-file Democrats are turning on their leaders in the wake of Tuesday’s Georgia special election — where Republican Karen Handel comfortably beat Democratic hopeful Jon Ossoff, despite Ossoff’s enormous celebrity support and Dems pouring tens of millions of dollars into the race while heralding it as a referendum on Trump.
If the race was indeed a referendum on Trump, then the president won — and his gleeful reaction, as well as the Democratic meltdown, is surely a sign of that.
Democratic leadership trotted out the talking points about Georgia being a Republican seat and that the win was still a defeat for Trump because it was close.
“The margin was close in this deep red district, and Jon Ossoff pushed the race to the limit in both the primary and the runoff by impressively mobilizing the base and persuading independents and moderate Republicans,” a memo from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Luján said.
But many Dems weren’t fooled by their own party’s propaganda, recognizing the defeat for what it was — a massive blow to a party that should be soaring as Trump’s agenda struggles in Congress and he is plagued by the media-driven Russia controversy.
“Look, we need to win. Everything else is bulls—,” Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY) said, according to the Washington Post. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
Rep. Tim Ryan (R-OH), who challenged Pelosi for the leadership last year, said on CNN: “The brand is just bad.”
“I don’t think people in the beltway are realizing just how toxic the Democratic Party brand is in so many parts of the country,” he said before pointing to Pelosi as one of the causes for that.
Asked by CNN host Don Lemon if Pelosi was as toxic as President Trump Ryan responded: “You know what, the honest answer in some areas of the country, yes she is.”
“We need leadership change,” Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) told CNN. “It’s time for Nancy Pelosi to go, and the entire leadership team.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), said Democrats have been “hyper-confused” on economic messages, and on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” said that Democrats had “spent so much time talking about Russia” which he said “has been a distraction from what should be the clear contrast between Democrats and the Trump agenda which is on economics.”
However, even if Pelosi were to go, it seems unlikely it would mark an end to the raging Democratic civil war between those seeking to turn the party into a more moderate and centrist vehicle to compete in swing states, and those seeking to lurch left in the mold of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Just as so-called “Blue Dog” Democrats were appealing to their party to moderate and de-toxify the brand, radical left-wing group MoveOn.org was pushing another message from the Georgia defeat, telling its supporters “the Resistance movement is putting deep red districts and states in play.”
“In the closing weeks of the race, Ossoff and the DCCC missed an opportunity to make Republicans’ attack on health care the key issue, and instead attempted to portray Ossoff as a centrist, focusing on cutting spending and coming out in opposition to Medicare for All,” Executive Director Anna Galland said. This approach did not prove a recipe for electoral success,”
Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY
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