MS NOW host Rachel Maddow said Wednesday on ABC’s “The View” that she hopes to see a “big fight” play out between moderate and democratic-socialist members of the Democratic Party in Congress, as pressure builds on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Maddow, who was on the show promoting her new book “Department of Fate,” addressed recent calls from several incoming Democratic senators to replace Schumer once the party takes control of the Senate in January. Democratic senators-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas, Troy Jackson of Maine and Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan have all pushed for new leadership.
Rather than treat the party split as a liability, Maddow framed it as a sign of success following the midterm elections.
“I feel like the Democrats have kind of first-world problems right now,” Maddow said. “There was so much talk ahead of the election about, ‘Oh there’s these handful of democratic socialist-associated candidates. How are the Democrats going to do?’ Well, the Democrats elected so many people. Yes, they elected a handful of democratic socialists, but also the Blue Dog coalition, which is the conservative Democrats. They have like a dozen new members too.”
Maddow argued that the party’s newly expanded ideological range, from democratic socialists to the conservative-leaning Blue Dog Coalition, could be a strength rather than a weakness.
“I think that it’s righteous for them to have a big fight. I hope they don’t settle it instantly. I hope they actually do have a debate. I think competition makes us stronger,” she said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Maddow’s remarks came a day after “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg criticized congressional Democrats for publicly debating whether to replace Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
“This is my two cents,” Goldberg said. “I don’t want to hear this from you right now. I want to know what all of you are, all of you Democrats, what are your plans for the first 100 days? I don’t care if you’ve been there forever or just got there. What are your plans? We put you in there to clean house, to make sure that the government works the way the people want it to work. I don’t want to hear all this infighting, because then you become the distraction, and then you become no better than the Republicans were. So, just get your stuff together. All of you.”
Not everyone agrees with Maddow’s read on the moment. Democratic strategist and pollster Doug Schoen pushed back, arguing that the party’s midterm gains came from the center, not the left.
“It’s clear the Dems won an overwhelming victory because of moderates, not progressives. The American people are demanding action on the affordability crisis, not intraparty infighting between progressives and moderates,” Schoen told Fox News Digital.
The dispute underscores a widening gap within the Democratic Party over whether its postelection momentum reflects an appetite for further leftward movement or a mandate from moderate and swing voters focused on economic concerns.
