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Two former Obama staffers admitted Tuesday that intolerance within the Democratic Party was a “huge problem” that needs to be addressed if the party hopes to win future elections.
Tommy Vietor and Jon Favreau, Obama alumni and hosts of “Pod Save America,” joined the “Flagrant” podcast for a wide-ranging discussion on President Donald Trump’s campaign promises, political hypocrisy and the internal purity tests plaguing the Democratic Party.
“In my lifetime, I’ve never seen a political party as obsessed with excluding people,” “Flagrant” co-host Akaash Singh told Vietor and Favreau.
“And the irony is, Democrats seem to love talking about inclusivity. Ad nauseam. Inclusivity, inclusivity, inclusivity. But if somebody steps out of line from what we want them to say, ‘F— you forever.’ You have no chance of redemption.”
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“How do Dems fix that?” co-host Andrew Schulz posed to the former Obama officials.
Vietor acknowledged there was “a huge problem” over the past few years with liberals being unwilling to engage in conversation with people they disagree with. But he believes that the Democratic Party is now adopting a more open attitude.
Vietor recounted how he had once been invited to a Barstool Sports show but declined the request, fearing at the time that his podcast audience would get “upset” with him because of things Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy had said.
“I think back to that, and I’m embarrassed, and I’m mad at myself,” he confessed.
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Vietor said he’s since changed his attitude and believes the party at large is “course correcting” and “learning from those mistakes.”
He cited how Bernie Sanders welcomed podcast host Joe Rogan’s endorsement in the 2020 election as a sign there was willingness for the party to be a “big tent” party again.
He also pushed back on the idea that viewpoint diversity was largely a Democratic Party problem.
“Democrats can be annoying. We can be scold-y. But I think sometimes it’s online mobs more than the party,” he said of left-wing cancel culture.
Vietor went on to praise Trump as a “genius” for inviting Democrats like HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. onto his cabinet and conceded that Democrats could learn from that.
“Democrats, you’re right, sometimes we have like a laundry list of things, and you don’t check all the boxes, we don’t allow you in the tent,” he said.
Vietor advocated for the party to return to “Obama-era politics” where he argued leaders in the party had respectful engagement with voters they disagreed with on hot-button issues.
At another point in the podcast, Favreau responded to a question from the co-hosts about Democrats’ “morally superior” attitude.
He conceded that lecturing Trump supporters about racism and his “horrible” policies wasn’t a winning strategy to expand the Democratic Party coalition.
“Is our ultimate goal to just be, like, right on the internet? Or is the goal to, like, pass policies that we deeply believe in that are going to improve people’s lives? Because if that’s the goal, then we’re going to need to have a bigger coalition than a bunch of White liberals,” he said.
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