Democratic strategist James Carville blasted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) during his Thursday podcast episode, urging her to leave the Democratic Party following the resurfacing of controversial comments about white men. Carville’s comments came in response to a 2018 Al Jazeera interview where Omar claimed Americans should be “more fearful of white men” because they are “actually causing most of the deaths” in the U.S.
During the episode of Politics War Room, Carville read Omar’s quote and then sharply criticized her rhetoric as not only divisive but politically suicidal for Democrats. “Lady, why don’t you just get out the Democratic Party?” Carville said. “Start your own movement.”
Carville pointed out that white men make up a large segment of the American electorate. “Roughly 69% of the people going to vote in November… are going to be white. Of that, 48%… are going to be male. That’s roughly 33.3% of the entire election,” he said. “Well, let’s just run against them, ’cause that’s so goddamn smart.”
He continued, “We agree with a lot of things that you do. But we don’t believe we ought to be running against white men… any gender, any ethnic group, any race, any religion or anything else. Goddamn, these people are just helpless.”
Carville’s frustration reflects a broader Democratic divide, as polling shows nearly half of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents want the party to move toward a more moderate stance. Gallup reported in February that 45% of those aligned with the party prefer moderation.
This isn’t the first time Carville has suggested that the far-left wing of the party may need to break away. In April, he proposed that progressive activists start their own party, arguing they hurt the party’s electoral appeal. “Maybe we can have an amicable split here,” Carville said in a Politicon video.
Omar has not publicly responded to Carville’s remarks. Her original statement continues to draw criticism across the political spectrum, particularly at a time when Democrat favorability is at historic lows. March polls from NBC News and CNN/SSRS showed party approval ratings at just 27% and 29%, respectively.
