Political strategist James Carville has sharply criticized some far-left Democrats, labeling them "part of the problem" for challenging and unseating incumbent party members in recent primary elections. Carville, speaking in a video for his "Politics War Room" podcast, expressed strong disapproval of what he described as the "cannibalization of longtime incumbents" by insurgent candidates.
"These people are so f—ing stupid I don’t know what to say about it," Carville said. "So now we have this idea that these insurgent Democrats — and what is their solution?"
He pointed to several primary races where progressive or Democratic Socialist candidates defeated more moderate Democrats. Examples cited include New York, where Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander unseated incumbents, and Colorado, where Melat Kiros defeated Rep. Diana DeGette, D-CO. "Is their solution to beat Republicans, to run against Republicans? No," Carville stated. "Their solution is to beat Democrats like they’re part of the problem. You are part of the problem because you’re a f—ing idiot."
Carville also extended his criticism to figures like Bernie Sanders, suggesting that the belief that there is no significant difference between establishment Democrats and establishment Republicans is detrimental to the party. He specifically mentioned Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan, who he characterized as running "against both parties."
"One party expanded health insurance, all right?" Carville argued. "Another party destroyed it. One party balanced the budget and created economic prosperity. The other party destroyed it. One party brought about a deal with Iran’s nuclear program. Another party destroyed it."
Carville warned Democratic voters against "fall[ing] for the allure of false prophets" in upcoming elections. He concluded by stating, "And all these people, go beat a Republican — then come back and I will respect you. Until you do that, I have nothing but contempt for you. And somehow or another, among Democrats, something became more important than winning elections. And that became, ‘Oh, I want to feel superior to people.’"
The veteran strategist also recently criticized Maine Democrats for what he described as a failure to properly vet a scandal-plagued candidate, Graham Platner. "If I look back on this … you didn’t vet your own candidate? You mean you didn’t know?" Carville rhetorically asked. "OK, we used to get our own oppo researchers to do an oppo research book on us. It’s the most important research you do."