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MINNEAPOLIS — Democrats came ready to fight as they huddled this week at the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) annual summer meeting.
Despite repeated talk that the party is unified as it aims to exit the political wilderness following last year’s election setbacks, Democrats fought among themselves multiple times during the three-day confab, which was held in Minnesota’s largest city.
As Democrats hunger for a more forceful response to counter President Donald Trump’s sweeping and controversial agenda, DNC Chair Ken Martin targeted the president, arguing Trump’s acting as “a dictator in chief” and that his second administration is “fascism dressed in a red tie.”
Martin pointed to pushback by Democrats against moves this summer by Trump and Republicans to create more right-leaning U.S. House seats in states across the country through rare mid-decade congressional redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Martin said he’s “sick and tired of this Democratic Party bringing a pencil to a knife fight.”
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“We cannot be the only party that plays by the rules anymore,” he urged.
And DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, in a Fox News Digital interview on the sidelines of the meeting, urged that Democrats “have to engage in a level of fight, not power for power’s sake, but we have to fight hard because we understand what’s at stake for working people and working families.”
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Echoing Martin, he said, “We’ve been playing checkers. They’re playing Grand Theft Auto.” He was referring to the long-running and popular action-adventure video game series that revolves around shooting, driving and stealing cars.
Amid talk that the party remains divided over a slew of policy and political issues, leaders preached unity.
“We do not have the luxury to fight amongst ourselves while that thing sits in the White House,” 2024 Democratic Party vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz emphasized, referring to Trump.
And Martin highlighted that “in this big tent party of ours, we are unified towards one single goal: to stop Donald Trump and put this country back on track.”
At several smaller panel discussions during the confab, a leader from the donor portal for Democrats known as ActBlue shared what was described as a fight song to energize party members.
The song and the lyrics, which were reported by Semafor, were mocked by conservatives on social media.
While unity was a top theme in Minneapolis, divisions did flare during the summer meeting.
There was plenty of disagreement as the DNC’s Resolutions Committee considered two dueling resolutions on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The panel voted down a symbolic resolution calling for an arms embargo and suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, which has long been the top American ally in the Middle East.
A separate resolution introduced and supported by Martin that called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as well as unrestricted access to humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, was unanimously passed by the panel.
But the defeat of the second, more forceful resolution, which was introduced by 26-year-old Allison Minnerly, a new DNC member from Florida, sparked opposition among some members on the panel.
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“It’s not enough,” Sophia Danenberg, a DNC committee member from Washington, D.C., said as she pointed to Martin’s resolution. “People want to hear a louder, stronger statement.”
Danenberg emphasized, “I do fear that we’re losing our future as the Democratic Party by not being courageous on this issue.”
Minutes later, after a private conversation between Martin and Minnerly, the DNC chair asked the committee to “withdraw my resolution so we can move united today and have the conversation.”
“We need to keep working through this. We have to find a path forward as a party, and we have to stay unified,” the chair added.
Martin’s move, which was embraced by the committee, may buy a little bit of time, but the party remains divided on the issue.
Joe Salas, a DNC committee member from California and a Muslim American, told Fox News after the defeat of Minnerly’s resolution, “I think there is a disconnect between the people on the committee and the average lock-stock-and-barrel voters who identify with the Democratic Party.”
The showdown over the resolutions came as the Democratic Party’s once nearly unshakable support for Israel has fractured amid the bloodshed. And concerns over the growing death toll among Palestinians by many in the party’s progressive base have soared this spring and summer amid what many describe as a famine in Gaza. Recent polling indicates support for Israel’s continued military actions in Gaza is plummeting among Democrats.
Democrats are aiming to rebound after last year’s elections when the party lost control of the White House and the Senate. Democrats also fell short in their bid to win back the House majority, and Republicans made gains with voters who make up key parts of the Democratic Party’s base.
But the situation has only deteriorated for the Democrats in the 10 months since last year’s election setbacks, according to key metrics.
The Democrats’ brand is deeply unpopular, especially with younger voters, and the party’s poll numbers continue to drop to all-time lows in national surveys.
The DNC continues to face a massive fundraising deficit at the hands of the rival Republican National Committee (RNC), as well as concerns over lagging party registration.
But Martin was optimistic.
While he acknowledged “that our cash on hand seems to be low by comparison to the Republicans,” he touted at Wednesday morning’s Executive Committee meeting that “we have raised $70 million so far this year, which is a record.”
And Martin pointed to a special election victory Tuesday night in red state Iowa, where the Democrats flipped a GOP-held state Senate seat.
“This is now 40 key elections this year that we’ve won or overperformed in,” Martin touted. “I want you to think about that for a second. Democrats, there’s wind at our back. We have overperformed in every single election that’s been on the ballot since Donald Trump was inaugurated.”
After a rough stretch after winning election as DNC chair in February, Martin appears to have steadied himself this summer, and there was plenty of praise for the new chair during the meeting, which on Wednesday adjourned early after the deadly church shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis just a few miles from the DNC meeting.
But Republicans say they’re also thrilled with Martin’s tenure so far.
“Under Ken Martin’s leadership, Democrats have sunk to their lowest approval rating in 35 years, and the DNC is still paying off millions in debt from Kamala Harris’ failed campaign,” RNC communications director Zach Parkinson told Fox News. “As Republicans, we think he is doing a fantastic job, and we fully endorse him to stay on as DNC chair.”
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