Sen.-elect Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) blamed outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris‘s electoral defeat on the entire Democratic Party.
In an appearance on NBC News’s Meet the Press, Schiff was asked if he agreed with Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) assessment that President Joe Biden bore some blame for the loss due to staying in the race so long. When pressed, Schiff shifted blame away from Biden, instead distributing blame across his entire party.
DEMOCRATS WEIGH CHANGE IN STRATEGY TO AVOID MIDTERM AND 2028 DEFEATS
“Look, I think the entire Democratic party bears the responsibility, myself included, and the former president… mounted an effective campaign, and you have to give them credit for that,” he said.
“But the challenge that we have is we need to put forward a bold vision for how we’re going to move the economy forward, make the economy work for every American,” Schiff continued. “To me, the existential question is: if you’re working hard in America, can you still earn a good living? And too many people doubt that that’s possible.”
BIDEN TO USE LAME-DUCK SESSION TO ‘TRUMP-PROOF’ LEGACY
The California Democrat also pushed back against hypotheticals that Biden stepping out earlier could have saved Democratic control of the White House, saying that an “ugly and divisive and chaotic” open primary could have further dented their chances.
He put Harris’s loss down to a global “very strong anti-incumbent wave that took out both progressives and conservatives.”
“And our party became associated with the status quo, and that was too much to overcome,” Schiff said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Schiff served as perhaps Trump’s biggest headache in the House during the former president’s first term. The Democrat hinted that he wouldn’t readily approve any of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, promising to ask plenty of “tough questions.”
Despite this, he expressed some praise for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as the secretary of state pick while heavily criticizing former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as the pick for director of national intelligence.
