As turmoil from within the Democratic Party begins to bubble to the surface in the face of a lackluster showing in the House of Representatives, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is seeking to freeze out far-Left progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a report from Politico outlined.
Leading Democrats, The Independent noted, have begun to “privately acknowledge” that far-Left types like Sanders and Warren will hurt the party’s chances in coming elections, and thus the pair “have been ruled out” of filling cabinet positions in a potential Biden administration.
“The Biden administration has to be a lot more sensitive of where you come from if you’re looking at members of Congress,” Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA) told Politico. “We cannot afford to put any seats in jeopardy.”
Both Sanders and Warren have aligned themselves with so-called democratic socialism, calling for taxpayer-funded “free” college and socialized medicine, among other costly proposals.
The report of their exclusion from a potential Biden cabinet highlights Democratic Party fracture and signals their apparent move forward. As does a recent leaked conference call following the 2020 election, where freshman Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) reportedly unloaded on the hard Left of the party for echoing chants to “defund the police” and openly supporting socialism.
The Daily Wire reported on the leaked call:
“No one should say ‘defund the police’ ever again,” said Spanberger, reports Politico. “Nobody should be talking about socialism.”
Other Democrats on the phone call also spoke out about the effects of the “defund the police” rhetoric on their congressional races, according to CNN.
“Spanberger, who represents a historically red district in Virginia, reportedly warned others on the phone call about the effects open radicalism would have in the 2022 congressional midterm elections,” The Daily Wire noted. “She said that Democrats would ‘get f****** torn apart’ should the party continue in that direction and called the 2020 House election results a ‘failure’ for them.”
Unsurprisingly, the hard Left has not taken well to the calls for moderation and the abandonment of identity politics. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), for example, claimed the sentiment amounts to “silencing” her and her voters, The Daily Wire noted:
Tlaib pushed back against the calls to moderate in an interview with Politico on Tuesday. Moderates in the party have blamed poor results in a number of close races, with several incumbent Democrats losing to their GOP challengers, on the extreme stances of many prominent Democrats such as Tlaib and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Tlaib said that the moderate Democrats’ complaints are an attempt to shift blame and avoid responsibility. Tlaib also accused the moderate members of the party of attempting to sideline the party’s progressive wing as former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden is likely to win the presidency, according to Politico.
“We’re not going to be successful if we’re silencing districts like mine,” Tlaib said. “Me not being able to speak on behalf of many of my neighbors right now, many of which are black neighbors, means me being silenced. I can’t be silent.”
“We are not interested in unity that asks people to sacrifice their freedom and their rights any longer,” the Democrat continued. “And if we truly want to unify our country, we have to really respect every single voice. We say that so willingly when we talk about Trump supporters, but we don’t say that willingly for my black and brown neighbors and from LGBTQ neighbors or marginalized people.”
Though Biden and his allies in the mainstream media have declared the former vice president the winner of the 2020 election, President Donald Trump is continuing his legal fight over alleged voter irregularities and potential fraud. There are also states still counting, and set to recount, votes.