Donna Brazile, a veteran political strategist who was interim chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during the 2016 election, brushed aside California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)’s approach of mocking President Trump on social media Sunday but praised the potential 2028 presidential contender for putting up a fight.
“Everybody likes a good laugh, and now he’s about to, I guess, issue his own cup and golden tennis shoes and who knows what else,” Brazile said during a discussion on ABC’s “This Week” about Newsom’s new social media style and plans for MAGA-inspired campaign merchandise. “These are serious times that require serious people to be at the table.”
Brazile urged her party to embrace Newsom’s new head-on approach to countering Trump, though, after a new analysis from The New York Times last week found Democratic voter registration drastically lagged behind GOP registrations between the 2020 and 2024 elections.
“This is a wake-up call, clearly … where we’re going to have to figure out, what is the road forward?” she said. “We have to do the basic things, but we also have to be prepared to do what Gavin Newsom is now urging Democrats of all different persuasions — fight back, punch harder — because if we’re going to regain the Congress and get ready for the White House, Democrats are going to have to come up with a different playbook.”
After Trump pushed Texas to redraw its congressional maps to be more favorable to Republicans, Newsom countered with a push for more Democratic-friendly maps in California.
“When you have a party that is focusing on six or seven battleground states, you’re missing the moment,” Brazile said, describing a Democratic Party focused only on swing states. “So, it is a wake-up call.”
“I knew long before that study came out that we were having a problem with registration, especially with young people and, of course, people of color,” she added.
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