Clearly not learning from their past mistakes, the Democrats are still insisting that President Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris in the presidential election because the American people are “racists” and “misogynists.”
This misguided belief was confirmed during the final debate among the eight candidates vying to chair the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
During the debate at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., there was a heavy focus on “systemic racism” and “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs.
The forum, moderated and broadcast live on MSNBC, delved into chaos early on as a wave of left-wing protesters repeatedly interrupted the primetime event before they were forcibly removed by security.
Protesters were heckling over concerns of “climate change” and billionaires’ influence in America’s elections.
Thanks in part to their repeated targeting of DEI efforts under former President Joe Biden’s administration, Trump recaptured the White House in the November elections.
Republicans also retook control of the Senate from the Democrats and the GOP held onto its razor-thin majority in the House.
The DNC chairman for the past four years, Jaime Harrison, declined to seek another term steering the Democrats’ national party committee.
On Saturday, the DNC will vote for a new chair as the Democrats hold their annual winter meeting this year at National Harbor, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.
Before bringing the candidates out, Harrison said at the start of the debate:
“Unlike the other party, that is demonizing diversity, we understand that diversity is our greatest strength.”
Biden and many Democrats portrayed DEI efforts as a way to boost inclusion and representation for communities historically marginalized.
However Trump and his supporters, on the 2024 campaign trail, repeatedly charged that such programs were divisive and discriminatory.
Instead, Trump has called for restoring “merit-based” hiring.
Since his inauguration on January 20 and his return to power in the White House, Trump has signed a slew of sweeping executive orders and actions to end the federal government’s involvement in DEI programs.
These efforts are reversing in some cases decades of hiring practices by the federal government.
Trump’s actions are also pushing large corporations in the private sector to abandon their diversity efforts.
At Thursday’s debate, there was plenty of focus on “diversity” and “racism,” which the Democrats are apparently still adamant is a winning issue for them.
At one point, the candidates were asked for a show of hands about how many believed that racism and misogyny played a role in Harris’s defeat to Trump.
All eight candidates running for DNC, as well as many people in the audience, raised their hands.
“That’s good. You all pass,” MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart, one of the moderators of the forum, quipped.
However, far from everyone in the party wants to see such issues dominate the discussion without the added inclusion of economic concerns such as inflation, which were top of mind at the ballot box in November.
Democrat strategist Joe Caiazzo, who is attending the party’s winter meeting, claims the DEI push is a “pathway to power” for the party.
Caiazzo, a veteran of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, said:
“The Democrats’ pathway to power runs directly through kitchen table economics and the notion we can fight for economic opportunity and ensuring everyone is treated with dignity and respect.”
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, considered one of the frontrunners in the DNC chair race, in speaking with reporters after the forum, pointed to the gains made by Trump and Republicans among diverse voters in the 2024 election.
He argued that the party did not spend enough time concentrating on “the kitchen table issues.”
“Whether you’re Hispanic, whether you’re transgender, whether you’re gay, whether you’re straight, whether you’re black, whether you’re white. Everybody needs to eat,” O’Malley argued.
“And the people we lost in every segment were people who struggled the most to put food on their family’s table.
“And they were the ones we lost across the board.”
The protests, staged in waves, include calls for the DNC chair candidates to bring back the party’s ban on corporate PAC and lobbyist donations.
The ban was in effect during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
The youth-led, left-wing climate action organization known as the Sunrise Movement, said the first three protesters were affiliated with their group.
Another protester, who was not believed to be affiliated with the Sunrise Movement, as he was dragged out of the debate hall by security, yelled:
“What will you do to get fossil fuel money out of Democratic politics?
“We are facing a climate emergency!”
Much of the audience, which consisted of many DNC voting members, appeared frustrated by the repeated interruptions.
“Protest the Republicans,” a member of the audience shouted out.
“Protest the people who are actually hurting you!”