Minnesota Democratic Rep. Phillips says the party is currently lacking in leadership

Congressman Dean Phillips, D-Minn., criticized the Democratic Party, stating that the party doesn't have leadership at the moment and isn't listening to working class Americans. 

“This party needs a comprehensive turnaround, and conventional wisdom no longer works," Phillips said during an interview with Politico Magazine. 

He added the party is "devoid of leadership" and is "rudderless."

Phillips challenged Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination but was unsuccessful. 

“I don’t know which Democratic Party member my colleagues would point to as the leader, de facto leader, and absent that, I don’t see much, frankly, happening,” he said in the interview. 

"I think it’s ironic that the Republican Party is now representing America’s working class. It’s astounding, and that was ceded to them by people that have prioritized things like tenure over talent, identity politics over pragmatic problem solving. It’s as simple as that, but it takes leadership," he added.

The Democrats lost the popular vote and the electoral college in the recent presidential election. 

As the Democratic National Committee gets ready to re-strategize for the 2026 midterms, there will be new leadership as current chairman Jaime Harrison, who is black, is stepping down.

Democrats appear to have a lack of diversity among the candidates running for the chairman position, with Marianne Williamson being the only woman running and former Department of Homeland Security official Nate Snyder, who is Jewish, is the only Latino running. 

The other four running are white men. They are Minnesota Democratic Party head Ken Martin, former Maryland governor and presidential candidate Martin O'Malley, leader of the Wisconsin Democrats Ben Wikler and New York state Senator James Skoufis. The last white man to head the DNC was Tim Kaine, a former governor of Virginia and current U.S. senator. He chaired the DNC from 2009 to 2011, according to Reuters.

The Hill noted that the field of mostly white men is "a notable development for a party that has long touted diversity within its ranks."  

“It is a bit jarring too, to where the gender diversity is in this race and the conversation, it’s also way off,” said candidate Nate Snyder during an interview with The Hill.