The overarching theme of the Democratic National Committee’s 2024 election autopsy is that President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are not solely to blame for their loss — the left has a connection problem with ordinary Americans.
The nearly 200-page report was initially released by CNN on Thursday, following months of public pressure.
Three weeks ago, “Pod Save America” host Jon Favreau, who worked as a speechwriter in the Obama administration, interviewed DNC chairman Ken Martin.
During the interview, Favreau pointed out that Martin had not released the report despite campaigning for DNC chair on transparency and criticizing Democrats for burying the 2016 autopsy report.
“Why not release the full report? What’s in the report that you wouldn’t want?” Favreau asked.
Martin argued that a full release would place unnecessary blame and distract from the upcoming midterm election.
He repeatedly stated that there was “no smoking gun” that he was hiding from the public, but Favreau remained skeptical.
Upon the report’s release, Martin made clear in a statement obtained by Deseret News that the report “does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards, but I am doing this because people need to be able to trust the Democratic Party and trust our word.”
“When I received the report late last year,” he added, “it wasn’t ready for primetime — not even close — and because no source material was provided, it would have meant starting over. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on the report that was produced.”
The report is full of red markings by the DNC, like, “No additional sourcing or evidence provided for many claims in this section,” or “Public reporting contradicts several underlying assumptions.”
It also has many sections missing, with red markings that claim the author of the report had not submitted it to the DNC.
Martin said the author, Paul Rivera, was not paid by the DNC to do the report, and Axios reporter Alex Thompson said in a post on X that Martin told DNC staff on Thursday that Rivera was no longer working there.
What’s in the report?
The report delves into the background of past presidential races, including President Barack Obama and Bill Clinton’s wins, and claims a need to go back to that era of the Democratic Party.
“To grow, we must admit and accept some hard truths about our Party. Since the high point of the 2008 Obama landslide, when he received nearly 10 million more votes than John McCain, the Democratic Party has vacillated between stagnation and retrogression,” the report says. “In doing so, we have lost the confidence we once received from everyday Americans — and election results show it.”
The report says that Democrats focused too heavily on urban and suburban politics and left out rural and blue-collar voters, particularly men, noting that “We must organize everywhere to Win Anywhere.”
“The Democratic Party has always tried to be seen as the party of the people, the party of workers, fair play and civil discourse,” it reads. “This report explores with depth and breadth how we lost these relationships by examining both candidate-specific circumstances and the overall trending away from effective and accountable politicking, and seeks to expound upon the combination of strategic, tactical, and organizational improvements Democrats need to form an effective and durable Majority Party Strategy.”
During the 2024 presidential election, the autopsy says that Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign relied too heavily on anti-Trump rhetoric and she failed to define herself around real voter issues or independent messaging.
The report doesn’t focus on the controversy over President Joe Biden’s mental decline and Harris’ compressed campaign timeline may have affected voter trust in the party, which some readers found frustrating.
Others were angered by the lack of mention of the Israel-Hamas war or climate change or both. One person posted to X that it shows a lack of priorities the party had for young voter issues.
The autopsy does claim that the media is part of the problem for Democrats.
“In the current media ecosystem, Republicans own and Democrats rent. ... With a free and fair press, Democrats have a shot to make their case. When publishers and owners have a partisan point of view, it’s more difficult for Democrats to break through.”
The report criticizes “identity politics” indirectly and talks about men and rural voters drifting away, but avoids naming many of the actual cultural flashpoints Democrats prioritized in 2024.
Editor-in-chief of The Daily Caller, Amber Duke, called it “Pure slop. Stunningly bad.”
When reporters asked for his thoughts on the DNC report, Trump used the opportunity to promote the SAVE America Act, legislation that would require voters to show ID to cast a ballot.
“I think the elections are so rigged and we have to do something about it,” he said. “The Senate and the House, they ought to get together and they ought to pass the Save America Act so that you have a voter ID and it’s so important you have proof of citizenship. ... The only way they (Democrats) can win is to cheat, and that’s what they want to do, and we ought to pass the Save America Act.”
