HBO host Bill Maher ripped newly elected DNC Chair Ken Martin, arguing his election does not prove that the Democratic Party will be listening to voters.
HBO host Bill Maher got real about the Democratic Party’s new leadership on Friday, saying it doesn’t reflect the party moving to give voters what they want.
The “Real Time” host torched the newly elected Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, stating his election does not reflect that the party is making the changes it needs to win back voters.
“I was not aware of who he was before. I did not think it got off to a great start because I think they need to completely reroute themselves, and I don’t think they did it,” Maher told his guest, MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes.
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The DNC elected Ken Martin, the Minnesota party leader, to the position last Saturday, beating out Martin O’Malley, the former two-term Maryland governor.
Following his victory, he said, “We have one team, one team, the Democratic Party. The fight is for our values. The fight is for working people. The fight right now is against Donald Trump and the billionaires who bought this country.”
During his program, Maher didn’t hide his frustrations with the new leader, accusing him of relaying the same tired talking point that the party employed up until their defeat last November.
“I mean, this Ken Martin guy, he said something I’ve heard Democrats say a lot, ‘We didn’t get our message out’ – And maybe I’m paraphrasing… And I’ve said this before to Democrats – No, you did. That’s the problem.”
“You did get your message out and people don’t like the message,” he declared.
Maher reinforced his point later in the episode when talking to Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and reporter Tara Palmeri. He paraphrased a line from a recent New York Times article, stating, “Many Americans say they do not believe the Democratic Party is focused on the issues that matter most to them.”
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Adding his own thought, he said, “So, if you think all this Trump stuff is going to go away because the other party is going to come in, well that may not be the case.”
Continuing to read from The Times piece, Maher said, “Here’s what people think is important to the Democrats, ‘abortion, L.G.B.T.Q. rights and climate change.’”
The host pointed out that the party hasn’t prioritized the issues voters care about.
“To me, as a voter, my issues were democracy and the environment,” he said, noting those weren’t focused on by the party. “And now I have no one who’s a champion of those issues in the government, and I blame the Democrats for that.”
“The people do not feel they’re representing them, and they’re losing,” he said, adding that The Times reported how voters saw “the economy, inflation, healthcare and immigration” as the main issues in the last election.
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