What's New
Democratic pundit Cenk Uygur called for a "populist revolt" against Democratic leaders at conservative group Turning Point USA's "AmericaFest" event on Saturday.
Newsweek reached out to The Young Turks (TYT) network via email for comment for Uygur and to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Sunday morning.
Why It Matters
Populism, a political approach that appeals to ordinary people who feel neglected by established elite groups, has risen among the Republican Party since President-elect Donald Trump stepped on the political stage in the 2016 election cycle with his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. MAGA focuses on putting Americans first and particularly appeals to working-class Americans, a group the Democratic Party once had a strong hold on.
What To Know
During an interview with Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, at the group's annual "AmericaFest" conference in Phoenix, Uygur criticized Democratic leadership as being "corporate robots" who only appeal to the rich people who donate to their campaigns.
"I can tell you definitely that the Democrat leadership and the Democratic establishment will never voluntarily go in a new direction. They will never voluntarily accept populism. They are built on donor money. They are of the donors, by the donors, for the donors," Uygur said.
Uygur, the co-host of the progressive online show The Young Turks, had a short run for president in the past election cycle. When announcing his bid in October 2023, Uygur wrote on social media he was running against President Joe Biden, who was the leading candidate at the time, because he was "down 24 points on the economy. He has no ability to make up that kind of ground on the most important issue."
Uygur was never going to realistically be president since he is a Turkish-born naturalized U.S. citizen and the U.S. Constitution only allows "natural born" citizens to hold the office of president.
Uygur told Kirk on Saturday, "What I need left-wing voters to understand is that they're never going to give you what you want incrementally...'Oh if we just go a little further with Joe Biden he'll give us another crumble and another tiny increment.' No."
"They're just going to pick a new and improved corporate robot like [Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg or [California Governor] Gavin Newsom and they're going to come out with a new script and they're going to say, 'I am now a populist,' Uygur said in a robot voice.
He added: "Don't believe the corporate robots. Remember how many times they lied to you. We need to do a populist revolt and pick a populist left-winger so we can have a real contest in this country. The establishment Democrats are never going to win. We need to go populist and the way to do that is not by negotiating with them. It's about defeating them in a primary."
Turning Point USA is a nonprofit that follows the same ideals as Trump's MAGA movement. According to its website, the organization is "grounded in American exceptionalism" and is aimed at restoring "traditional American values like patriotism, respect for life, liberty, family, and fiscal responsibility."
What People Are Saying
Following Vice President Kamala Harris' election loss to Trump in November, some people have scrutinized what the party has become and how it led to the Democratic presidential nominee's loss.
Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, said in a post-election statement, "It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rejected Sanders' comment, saying that Biden "has been called the most pro-union president when it comes to working class."
Former Democratic Ohio Representative Tim Ryan last month called for a "rebranding" of his party, which he says is "toxic in so many places."
"Our brand is toxic in so many places, and it is like, 'you are a Democrat?' That's the stuff we get in Ohio. We need a complete reboot. We need a complete reboot with the DNC. We need a complete rebranding," Ryan said on MSNBC's The Weekend. "We have to lead with the economy. We have to lead with growth...It is about getting back to—it is the Bill Clinton campaign."
What Happens Next
The Democrats have until the 2028 presidential election cycle to find a candidate that they think can lead the party and win with voters, including the 31 percent of Americans who consider themselves "working class," according to a Gallup poll from April. However, there are also Senate and House races before the next presidential election that Democrats will have to prepare for.
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