On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) stated that while Democrats do have to make some changes, President-Elect Donald Trump got a low amount of the popular vote and “Democrats would be in control of the House of Representatives if it weren’t for unbelievable gerrymandering in rewriting the district lines throughout this country.”
While discussing lessons from the 2024 election, Crow said that “you have to never stop earning the support and communicating with the American people, that this is not a history lesson, but this is present for a lot of folks, and we’re going to make the case. So, we’re going to continue to do our job. I have taken many oaths throughout my life. I was an Army Ranger. I served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I took oaths to defend the Constitution when I was fighting for our country. I took an oath, just the other day, again, for the fourth time, here in Congress. That is my North Star. I will never stop fighting for the Constitution, for the American people, for my constituents, that is all I can do, and that is what I will do.”
Host Katy Tur then asked, “What about some more specifics, do you think that the Democratic Party should go into a new direction, learn how to talk differently, to focus on different issues? Is there something more that you can — that you would be advising, at least internally, about how to approach the next two years, especially with Congress as divided as it is, but also with the American public sending a message to the Democrats that they were so unhappy with the Democrats that they were willing to put Donald Trump back in office?”
Crow answered, “Well, let’s not overreact and exaggerate about what happened, first of all, right? Donald Trump won the fifth-lowest amount of [the] popular vote of any election in the last hundred years. So, this was not any type of landslide red wave by any stretch of the imagination, and on top of that, we have the Electoral College, and on top of that, we have substantial gerrymandering. Democrats would be in control of the House of Representatives if it weren’t for unbelievable gerrymandering in rewriting the district lines throughout this country. So, that’s an important part of this story. And I think we can never forget that. That said, I’m from the middle of the country, I was born and raised in the upper Midwest. I represent a Western state right now, and there’s no doubt that we have to do a better job of making the case, of communicating with voters, and making sure that we address the concerns of working-class America. These are folks that I grew up [with]. I grew up in a working-class family, I worked in construction to help pay my way through college, I worked minimum-wage jobs and fast food. I understand that too many Americans are struggling and we’re going to continue to focus on those issues and continue to focus on the issues that many Americans want us to.”
Tur then said that it sounded like Crow is saying the Democratic Party doesn’t need to change that much. Crow countered that he isn’t saying that, but is just saying the party needs to not overexaggerate and making changes and doing soul-searching aren’t all-or-nothing propositions.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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