Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has teamed up with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) for a “Fight Oligarchy” tour that some insiders and observers say is a bad look for a Democratic Party iced out of power in the age of President Donald Trump and his ‘America First’ agenda.
Critics of the far-left duo’s efforts include former Democrat megadonor John Morgan, who spoke to NewsNation host Chris Cuomo where he said the entire tour was a massive mistake.
“It’s a mistake … I agree with (longtime Democratic strategist James) Carville,” he said when Cuomo asked him if he liked the idea of the two self-proclaimed Democratic Socialists fighting “the oligarchs.”
“Look, the new (DNC) says this to me: They learned nothing from the last election. What they need to do, Chris, is they need to do nothing,” the former megadonor said. “They need to let the dumpster fire rage. Let everybody suffer, fight back, push back, be against it, but at the end of the day, Carville is right. Let the dumpster burn, get a lawn chair, get some popcorn, watch it. That will do more.”
“See, AOC and Bernie (galvanize) MAGA because MAGA hates them, and the thing MAGA loves the most other than what they love, they love watching them twisting and turning,” he said. “They liked to tear the wing off the fly and watch the flower walk around in a circle on the table. They enjoy that as much as they enjoy destroying the Department of Education.”
Former Clinton pollster Mark Penn had a similar stance when he warned that the rumored primary challenge Ocasio-Cortez could mount against Senate Minority Leader and New York Sen. Charles Schumer could devastate the party.
“I don’t think she’s going to challenge Schumer, but if she does, I mean, already the Democratic ratings are down to 29%. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “That means the left base is with the Democratic Party and the moderates are all leaving the party. So AOC taking off Schumer, wow, that could finish this party off. This could put it into the wilderness the way the [UK] Labour Party was for a decade.”
Schumer has been struggling in recent weeks in what is possibly the most unpopular time he has had throughout his political career.
The senator was criticized by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week for his controversial vote with Republicans to prevent a government shutdown.
During a press conference in San Francisco, Pelosi stated that she was confident Schumer would be able to lead the Senate’s Democratic caucus moving forward. However, she contended that the Brooklyn Democrat had made too many compromises to Republicans when he suddenly declared that he would vote to move the government funding bill that the GOP had crafted.
“I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” Pelosi said. “I think that’s what happened the other day.”
“We could have, in my view, perhaps gotten [Republicans] to agree to a third way,” Pelosi stated, alluding to a desperate plan by congressional Democrats to prolong the current government spending for 30 days while they engage in discussions on a more comprehensive bill.
“They may not have agreed to it, but at least the public would have seen them not agreeing to it — then [Republicans] would have been shutting the government down,” Pelosi argued.
Pelosi pleaded with Senate Democrats hours before last week’s vote to defy Schumer and vote against the six-month spending bill.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America. This false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Pelosi went on to insist that she’s moving on from the shutdown battle.
“I’m concerned about the next time. I’m concerned about the future,” the California Democrat said. “What happened last week was last week. We’re going into the future.”
