CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misinterpreted Rep. Robert Garcia’s remarks. Garcia criticized Donald Trump’s administration for “enriching themselves.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) appears to have learned a lot from former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign and said the American people want to see Democrats put up a fight again President Donald Trump.
Garcia argued as much during an appearance Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The Weeknight,” though this wasn’t the first time he urged his colleagues to reflect on why they lost last year’s election to Trump.
“What we have to do as a party is focus on a few things,” Garcia said. “First is making it very clear that we are the anti-corruption party. We’re the party that believes in democracy and the rule of law and supporting working families and the American public.”
“Right now, we have an administration that is completely focused on enriching themselves and their family,” he continued. “They are stealing from the American public, from working-class people, to enrich themselves and their billionaire friends.”
The panel of MSNBC hosts, including Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez, listened closely to his message. Garcia said Democrats must “do a better job of communicating” their goals to dejected voters.
Garcia notably co-chaired Harris’ campaign, which only had some 100 days to run against Trump after she became the Democratic nominee. Her loss spawned public frustration within the party, whose members couldn’t understand how they lost to Trump — yet again.
Garcia acknowledged Tuesday that Democrats failed because they “didn’t convince the American public that we’re on their side,” but argued that the party’s current resistance to Trump’s executive orders and seemingly open corruption is winning voters over.
“Every week that goes by, we’re getting stronger,” he said. “We’re honing in on our message, and when I’m … talking to people, going to town halls, people are reacting to the aggressive approach that we’re taking, and they like it. We’ve gotta be out there and fight.”
Steele went on to ask how Democrats can possibly win people over with promises of health care or a stable economy.
“I think, one, we’ve got to call out every single lie, every single attack on democracy, every time they try to intimidate members of Congress or the public,” Garcia suggested. “We have got to call it out. We can’t be afraid of putting it all out on the table.”
“The American public understands, and the American public wants to see us fight,” he said.