MINNEAPOLIS – Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin says his party must do more to resist President Donald Trump.
“Look, folks, I’m sick and tired of this Democratic Party bringing a pencil to a knife fight,” Martin said Monday, speaking to an audience of several hundred DNC members at the committee’s summer meeting. “We cannot be the only party that plays by the rules anymore. We have to stand up and fight. We’re not going to have a hand tied behind our back anymore. Let’s grow a damn spine and get in this fight, Democrats.”
Martin repeatedly called Trump an authoritarian fascist and vowed that Democrats would do more to resist his administration, delivering a fiery speech that characterized the contest between Republicans and Democrats as an existential fight for the country’s freedom.
“This is not politics as usual, my friends,” Martin said. “This is authoritarianism. It’s fascism dressed in a red tie. And we, each of you in this room, and all of the Democrats throughout this country, we are the only thing standing in his way.”
“America is hungry for leaders, hungry for leaders who give a damn about their circumstances,” he said. “For a government that gives people freedom, not fascism.”
Martin later called Trump a “dictator in chief.”
“Right now, I call on all of us to fight for a country that’s attacked from the inside,” he said. “A country being attacked by an insidious force hellbent on destroying our American experiment.”
Martin’s speech comes amid criticism from many rank-and-file Democratic voters that the party isn’t doing enough to resist Trump’s administration, which has issued a sweeping set of decrees this year that seek to reshape the country to more closely align with the president’s worldview.
The criticism has helped drag the Democratic Party’s approval ratings to historic lows, and raised questions about the party’s ability to mount a broad and successful challenge to the Republican Party in next year’s midterm elections.
“Nothing pisses me off more than getting a fundraising text from Democrats talking about how they’re fighting fascism,” said Graham Platner, who last week announced he would run as a Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine. “Because it’s such bullshit. We’re not idiots. Everyone knows most of them aren’t doing jack shit right now to fight back.”
Martin wrote his own speech for the event, according to a DNC official. It appeared to land well in the room: DNC members regularly gave Martin overwhelming applause throughout his speech, capped with a standing ovation when he finished his remarks.
“Democrats, are you ready to fight?” said Martin, who continued to speak but whose words were soon drowned out by the cheering audience.