Top voices in the Democratic Party, as well as average Democratic voters, have struggled to answer who the party’s leader is when asked during interviews.
A video from the conservative opposition research organization, America Rising, highlighted comments from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elissa Slotkin on the matter, including average Americans, almost all of whom struggled to give a clear answer.
“People know me, I’m pretty straightforward. I don’t think it’s a secret that Democrats have been on their heels since Trump won the election. I don’t think that’s something hidden. And I think it’s on us to be clear about not only leadership, and there’s lot of leaders in both parties, but also a strategy, right?” Slotkin said in a “Meet the Press” interview earlier this month, which is in the clip.
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At the time, she added that the party is still “finding their footing.” Slotkin, who won her competitive Michigan seat in November, came into the national spotlight after responding to President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress on March 4.
“I think there’s a lot of discontent with the Democratic leadership, and I think with the entire Democratic Party,” Sanders said in an interview with CNN.
Others asked in the video struggled to answer the question, except for one woman who said that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is the current leader of the party.
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“Nobody. There isn’t one,” another person said in the video.
The progressive “Squad” leader recently held numerous “Fighting Oligarchy” events in Colorado, Arizona and Nevada with Sanders in opposition to the Trump administration. However, the jury is still out as to who, if anyone, can emerge as a uniting voice for progressives and moderates in the party while still maintaining staunch opposition to the Trump White House.
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Meanwhile, some in the clip outright objected to the notion that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who’s technically the highest-ranking Democrat in the United States, is the actual leader. Schumer has faced some calls to step down from his position after voting in favor of a continuing resolution backed by the Trump administration to avert a government shutdown – a move that many Democrats in his own caucus disagreed with.
A recent CNN poll of 504 Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents muddies the water even more, with Ocasio-Cortez getting the highest percentage of being considered the leader at 10%, with former Vice President Kamala Harris at 9% and Sanders at 8%. The same poll showed a 29% favorability for the Democrats, compared with 54% viewing them unfavorably.
