Focus on ‘wannabe dictator’ Trump: WA Rep. sounds off on Democrat Party’s direction
Apr 28, 2025, 3:00 PM
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
(Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
U.S. House representative Adam Smith (D-WA), the longest-serving member of Washington’s House delegation, wants to reconfigure and rebrand the Democratic Party.
“My issue is we have to have a message. We have to rebuild our coalition and rebuild our brand,” Smith said on CNN Monday. “We have to clearly attack President Trump for the wannabe dictator he is, for challenging the fundamental basis of our democracy. And if people don’t agree with us on that, we have to make the case.”
Adam Smith’s past comments on what the Democratic Party needs to do
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Since Donald Trump won the 2024 general election over Kamala Harris, Smith has been vocal that the Democratic Party is heading in the wrong direction.
“The Democratic Party brand is broken, and we desperately need to fix it if the party is ever going to have any hope of appealing to a majority of people in this country,” U.S. House representative Adam Smith said in a video he shared on X. “Economic policy and messaging is the worst part of that, but certainly not the only part.”
Two national polls published last month found a troubling trend for Democrats. Approval rating for the Democratic Party hit record lows following the 2024 presidential race. And Rep. Adam Smith claimed he knows why: the far left.
“The extreme left is leading us into a ditch,” Smith said. He doubled down in a New Yorker profile, blaming the Democratic Party’s struggles on the “new left” and how it led to policies that “have utterly and completely failed.” He even singled out King County for prioritizing funding for left-leaning programs.
In-fighting over party’s direction
Smith’s comments upset his Seattle colleague Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
“I was not happy about the way he’s characterizing my district,” Jayapal said, according to The Seattle Times. “The thing that has been irritating to me is I feel like he’s gotten a lot of coverage – that view has gotten a lot of coverage.”
An NBC News poll found that 27% of registered voters viewed the party favorably, while CNN’s poll provided slightly better results: 29%, the lowest mark in CNN’s polling since it began in 1992.
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