Discover video-sourced quotes by politicians

Ezra Klein: “Democratic Party's wildly unpopular as a brand. It is less…”

Featuring: Ezra Klein, Liberal | New York Times Columnist and Podcast Host | National

The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show

Published July 28, 2026 | Video Starts at 04:24

… Trump presidency did not turn out the way they had hoped to see a real resurgence in how people maybe felt about the Democratic Party. But today we're sitting here, Democratic Party's wildly unpopular as a brand. It is less popular than Donald Trump is as a brand. So as somebody who has run a Democratic Party in a state and a think was quite successful in doing so. Why is that? What is it that people don't like about the Democratic Party? (04:24–04:31)

CLAIM

Asserts that the Democratic Party is less popular than Donald Trump as a brand.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

Discover more from

Ezra Klein

“Kamala Harris lost Wisconsin by a single percentage point.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 00:41-00:45
“Tony Evers, the governor, and Tammy Baldwin and others had been working and they got money from Joe Biden to get the piles of coal gone.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 07:02-07:11
“Ben Wickler was a chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party from 2019 to 2025.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 00:19-00:24
“Tammy Baldwin, the Democratic Senate candidate, won the state [of Wisconsin].”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 00:41-00:48
“Wickler then launched a run for DNC chair, which he lost to Ken Martin.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 00:48-00:53
“In the 2024 election, prices were the biggest issue.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 04:00-04:04
“There were lawsuits, environmental lawsuits.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 07:25-07:28
“The Democratic Party wants to think of itself as a party that makes government work for people.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 07:33-07:39
“They believe it makes government work for their own set of interests, whether it's funders or environmentalists or unions.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 07:49-07:57
“Parties used to have a lot of control over the product. The people they ran for all kinds of seats up to and including president, came out…”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 14:54-15:06
“You're not as the official Democratic Party, deciding who will be the next gubernatorial candidate for the Democratic Party in Wisconsin.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 15:25-15:35
“If you look at the Democrats who are winning in the swing states, you look at Tammy Baldwin, who's a senator from Wisconsin, you look at…”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 20:03-20:21
“Former DNC Chair Jamie Harrison said, if you hate the Democratic Party, then please don't run for our nomination.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 22:35-22:41
“James Carville and Rahm Emanuel have been arguing that there are people who are running for Democratic nominations who should not be in the…”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 22:47-22:55
“Israel and Gaza are not that way. And I think it's one reason those fights have been proving much more combative at times much uglier.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 24:39-24:48
“There are a lot of voters that just don't fit the way the parties have grouped what goes with what.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 30:05-30:10
“The campaign against [Mandela] Barnes is, I would say, kind of borderline racist.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 34:58-35:03
“Democrats won Senate races that year, and Johnson was able to survive in that category.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 35:16-35:23
“Primaries in the algorithmic contention age work very differently.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 36:01-36:04
“The Democratic Party is going to have to wrestle with whether or not primaries are leading to electorally optimal candidates.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 36:04-36:15
“The DNC chose Ken Martin.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 41:02-41:05
“It is fair to say that the broad view is it has not been a successful tenure as a DNC chair.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 41:04-41:09
“It is currently at a terrible fundraising disadvantage, it is a flailing organization.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 42:05-42:10
“I don't think there is a model for what a party can be in the 21st century that anybody is all that excited about yet nationally.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 42:12-42:22
“The parties are not what they once were.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 42:22-42:24
“I don't really think writing letters to people in Wisconsin...are like super excited to get my letter writing in the mail.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 48:26-48:34
“Some people who email me this question all the time, which is they get a million very loud emails as we were talking about earlier, about…”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 49:53-50:09