With the Republican trifecta on the horizon, some Democrats resorted to the blame game while others take their time later 2024 election thinking about what went wrong and how they can appeal to voters in the future.

Some, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), argued that the losses were due to the Democratic Party “abandoning” working-class people. Others, like Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), said Democrats are out of touch because they’re “more concerned.” to disturb people”instead of talking about important policy issues.

President-elect Donald Trump and his allies spent A series of TV ads referencing transgender issues, including biological males playing girls’ sports, earned $123 million, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. The final message in the overall portion of the campaign was that Vice President Kamala Harris was so radical with her “Kamala For Them” slogan because of her past support for taxpayer-funded surgery for transgender inmates. President Trump is for you.”

When asked how progressives should respond to culture war blowback, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-DE) said all Democrats should take some time to think.

“This is a moment for soul searching, and there should be humility throughout the Democratic Party, no matter where you are ideologically, no matter what your priorities are,” McBride said at a news conference. The newest Progressive Caucus members on Monday.

“Let’s be clear: the party that focused on the culture wars, the party that focused on trans people was the Republican Party,” McBride added. “It was Donald Trump. “The $100 million, $200 million they spent on television advertising.”

McBride, who made history as the first transgender member of Congress after Election Day, did not speak openly about her identity but said it was not a secret.

“I think what we all need to know here is that when a politician tries to make an issue that affects a handful of people in a handful of states the top issue in the election, everyone has to ask why?” McBride said. “And the answer to that question is that Donald Trump was trying to divide and distract voters from the fact that he had absolutely no policy solutions for the problems I heard about on the campaign trail that were keeping them up at night. .”

McBride joins Reps. Nellie Pou (D-NJ), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), and Lateefah Simon (D-CA) outside the U.S. Capitol to be welcomed as new members of the House. attended. Progressive Caucus by Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Whip Greg Casar (D-TX).

Jayapal led the press conference by acknowledging that the outcome of the 2024 election was disappointing for many, that Trump is poised for a second term, that Republicans have flipped the Senate, and that the GOP is on track to maintain a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives .

But Jayapal said the losses will help the caucus “recalibrate” and “rebuild” and added that the addition of new Democrats is proof that “despite everything we’ve dealt with, the progressive force is still growing.”

While exit polls showed a dramatic drop in Democratic voter turnout compared to 2020, Jayapal said she was “not interested in impeachment” but thought the Democratic Party needed to rebuild and address why people chose to refuse to vote and neglect the presidential election.

“There’s a level of anger that I believe this election has really brought out,” the president said. “And while it’s wonderful for many of us to think about the joy and love and good things that we really like to think about in the Progressive Caucus, the truth is that we also need to channel a lot of the anger that has something to do with the fact that people don’t have a fair chance anymore.” .”

Casar blamed the “right-wing propaganda machine” for the losses, arguing that the Democratic Party needed to show “very clearly” that it was the party of working-class people.

“We must not stop being the civil rights party. We have to defend the rights of every single person, as Rep.-elect McBride just laid out, but that’s what people need to hear from us first,” Casar said during the conference call on where Democrats should go from here.

Casar later told reporters that Democrats need to “cut through the noise” and be willing to take risks.

“What Republicans did was try to speak to people’s economic concerns and then blame the vulnerable for it,” Casar said. “What Democrats need to do is talk to people’s economic concerns and blame the real bad guys for it.”

With many races still too close to call, control of the House of Representatives is still in play but tilted toward Republicans. However, some House GOP lawmakers He may join Trump’s cabinetand with some significant moves by Democrats in New York, the Republican majority in the House will likely be as small or smaller than it currently is.

Much of the 118th Congress focused on intra-GOP squabbles over government spending, foreign aid or speaker impeachment. Some Republicans, including prominent Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), have even lashed out at fellow conservatives, saying the inefficiency in the House leaves them with little to campaign in their districts.

Democrats have helped bail out Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) multiple times this term, including through several continuing resolutions and foreign aid boosts to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. But in the event of an official GOP trifecta, this may be the last support Republicans will see for a while.

“We have a situation where Democrats, who are in the minority in the House, feel that it is our duty — we can debate whether that is true or not — to address the Republicans’ shortcomings in governing, rather than allowing it to happen. They have shown over and over again that they cannot govern,” Jayapal said, adding that Democrats did this thanks to the blue White House and the Senate.

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“I don’t know that you’ll see the same desire in this Congress as the trio of Republicans. … The voters voted for them. Let’s see what they do,” the Progressive Caucus chair continued.

McBride said: Washington Comptroller He said being a new member of the House comes with a “great degree of humility” and that it would be “premature” to strategize about finding bipartisanship and helping Republicans push legislation across the finish line.