MINNEAPOLIS — Democrats gathered in Minnesota had one clear message for their fellow party members: Stop the personal attacks on one another.
Multiple speakers at the Democratic National Committee summer meeting acknowledged the party’s problems, including fundraising and voter registration gaps, low morale after the 2024 defeat, and low popularity among the broader American public.
However, the speakers admonished that there was too much at stake with President Donald Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress to continue the internal squabbles.
“After six months as chair, I learned that a lot of people, especially folks in D.C., they think they can change things by winning arguments,” DNC Chairman Ken Martin said during his welcoming speech on Monday. “You know what winning the argument gets you? Maybe a nice round of applause and a few likes on Instagram.”
“But the reality is, it doesn’t make life any better for any person,” he added. “We have to stop resettling on winning our arguments with each other. We have to win elections.”
Democrats are also facing internal battles about the party’s direction as they battle Trump. Activists, such as former DNC Vice Chairman David Hogg, have spent millions of dollars to oust elderly incumbent Democrats in primaries and accused the party of failing to meet the moment.
Martin’s comment may have been a subtle allusion to activists such as Hogg, who has a sizable presence on social media but angered Democrats by spending $20 million meddling in Democratic primaries. The drama over Hogg and his decision not to continue as vice chairman was a major distraction for the party.
DEMOCRATS HUDDLE IN MINNESOTA AS PARTY FACES MONEY AND VOTER WOES
The rank-and-file base is pushing Democratic lawmakers to bring a real fight to Trump after accusing the party of being too weak to effectively block the president during his second administration.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) argued that Democrats have fought back, citing Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s (D-CA) effort to add five more Democratic-friendly districts to counter the new congressional map that the Texas GOP muscled through. The new Texas map adds five GOP-friendly seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
“We’re not joining that ‘we suck’ club. We’re not getting sucked into it when they try to divide us in every single issue online,” Klobuchar said. “Because we have a more important job to do, complaining about each other to each other, it’s not how we win again.”
Similarly, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), the former vice presidential candidate, addressed the tensions the party is facing over whether older Democrats need to retire from elected office. However, he also said the fighting wouldn’t help win back voters or address the pocketbook issues that led Trump to recapture the White House.
“It boggles my damn mind that in the midst of a military takeover of cities and the attempt to go into others, the flaunting of the rule of law, the cruelness and the unconstitutional nature of the way they’re attacking our neighbors, that the press finds the need to talk about, ‘oh, there’s a division in the Democratic Party,’ There’s a division in my damn house, and we’re still married and things are good,” Walz said.
“I’m not telling anyone not to raise their voice. I’m not telling anyone to say, ‘You are too damn old, man, look at you.’ I’m fine with that,” Walz later said before attacking Trump’s leadership. “We can figure that part out, but I am willing to say each and every one of us are unified around the idea that this cruelty must end. This slow-rolling attempt at undermining democracy—and I always get in trouble for it, and I’ll continue to say it. I don’t think we do any favors when we don’t name it—These are fascist policies.”
Democrats still have many problems to address during their summer meeting, such as which states will have early voting priority during the 2028 presidential primary process and the tensions over two resolutions surrounding the battle between Israel and Hamas.
DEMOCRATS TO CONSIDER GAZA RESOLUTIONS AT DNC SUMMER MEETING
However, Martin was adamant that the party would fight the Trump administration.
“We need to fight harder, we need to organize smarter, and we need to make sure that people everywhere, no matter where they live, understand that the Democratic Party is their party,” he said. “The time to act is now, the time to change is now, the time to win real, lasting, transformative victories is right now.”