‘Morning Joe’ Panelists Give New DNC Chair Chances to Take a Popular Stance on “Cultural Issues”… He Blows It

(DCNF)—“Morning Joe” panelists on Monday provided new Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin with opportunities to take positions aligned with the majority of Americans, but he declined to do so.

A Marquette Law School survey conducted from Jan. 27 to Feb. 5 found that 63% of adults supported the federal government’s recognition of only two sexes. Despite the results of the poll and the 2024 election, Martin suggested that Democrats should not change their policies, but instead shift their focus.

“How do you thread the needle? We heard from the [House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries] there, certainly focusing on prices. Undeniably, prices have not gone down yet,” co-host Jonathan Lemire said. “But that poll suggests there is some real support for some of what Trump is doing and things the Democrats really dinged for during the last election cycle, particularly on some cultural issues and immigration.”

Martin declined to address any “cultural issues” in his response, instead asserting the majority of Americans think that President Donald Trump’s administration has not taken sufficient action to lower prices. He suggested Trump’s priorities are not aligned with what Americans care most about.

MSNBC contributor Katty Kay called out Martin for what was missing from his answer, citing the Marquette poll and asking the new DNC chair about his personal stance on the matter.

“Mr. Chairman, I don’t know if it’s that you don’t want to talk about the cultural issues that are in that poll, but 63% of Americans think that it is right that the government policy should be to just have two sexes,” Kay said. “Do you think U.S. government policy should be that there are just two sexes in the country?”

“It’s not up to me to decide what U.S. policy should be,” Martin answered. “But what I will tell you is that what people are focused on is their day-to-day lives — the kitchen table issues that impact their families.”

Kay interrupted Martin, asking if Democrats should be concerned about the Marquette poll, which also found that some of Trump’s immigration policies, such as deportation and declaring a national emergency, are popular with Americans. Martin responded that the DNC will “participate in a post-election review” to understand what occurred to push key Democratic constituents away, saying he does not “know the answer” at this point.

“But what I will say is what I do know most Americans are focused on is what impacts their families at the kitchen table, right? And that’s where we’re going to be focused on,” the DNC chair added. “You know, I think there’s going to be plenty of discussion on all of these issues, as there should be, right? But again, I think if you talk to Americans and you had them rank-order those issues, those issues would be very close to the bottom.”

“You were in Minnesota this election cycle. The ad, the transgender ad that the Trump campaign played over and over and over — it became their dominant ad September forward in the election,” MSNBC political analyst Elise Jordan said. “And you look at that poll and it does show that women in sports turned out to be a kitchen table issue. How does the DNC move past these hot-button issues to reach common ground with the American people and not be out of the mainstream?”

The ad Jordan referenced accused Vice President Kamala Harris of backing taxpayer-funded sex changes for transgender prison inmates and illegal immigrants.

“One of the challenges, I think, for the Democratic Party is we’ve allowed ourselves to message to smaller and smaller parts of our coalition,” Martin said. “And as a result, we’ve lost the narrative. Who we are as a Democratic Party, right? … we need to focus on the narrative that connects all parts of our coalition — which is economics, right?”

However, Martin argued that focusing on economics does not mean the party should change its “values.”

“We have … been the party that’s fought for the marginalized and the oppressed and people who are being bullied and harassed,” he said. “And we’ll continue to do that.”

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