(DCNF)—Democratic Washington Rep. Adam Smith said Friday on MSNBC’s “The Beat” that not all supporters of President Donald Trump are “racist, bigoted morons,” adding that his party needs to broaden its outreach and not “constantly” focus on “identity politics.”
For nearly a year since Trump won the 2024 election, Democrats have struggled to understand and regain voters, creating a split over which ideas the party should prioritize. When asked what “single message” Democrats need to rally behind to “take back some power” during the midterms, Smith discussed how the party should engage Trump supporters.
“We have to understand that all whatever 80 million, I think, is the number that voted for Trump, something like that. They’re not all racist, bigoted morons. They’re not,” Smith said. “And we need to stop treating them like that and say, ‘OK, you’ve got concerns. We’re going to address them.’ We’re not going to get them all. We don’t need to get them all.”
“But we need to reach out to people that broadens our coalition. We can’t keep preaching to the choir. Look, I represent a 70% Democratic district,” Smith added. “Whether I’m here or not, a Democrat is going to represent this district. And that’s great. But what are we going to do to reach the people in those places that we aren’t winning?”
With media pundits and polls warning Democrats in recent months about their struggling approval among voters, data from RealClear Polling shows an average favorability of 34.7% for the party. In March, however, Democrats hit a new low in CNN’s SSRS poll, reaching just a 29% favorability rating.
According to a New York Times report released Aug. 20, between the 2020 and 2024 elections, Democrats lost an estimated 2.1 million voters across 30 states, alongside Washington, D.C. In comparison, Republicans added 2.4 million registered voters and gained more new voters than Democrats between 2024 and 2025.
Prior to his comments on Trump supporters, Smith said Democrats need to focus on “what Trump is doing and how that is unacceptable,” accusing the president of being an “authoritarian” and “turning [the U.S.] into a monarchy.” While criticizing Trump, Smith acknowledged the Democratic Party also needs to understand why voters haven’t been “thrilled” with them.
“We have to change. We have to get better. We have to legitimately address immigration. We have to have secure borders, and we didn’t do as good a job on that as we should have,” Smith continued. “Focusing on identity politics constantly is not what the American people want. All right. We get that. We’re going to fix that.”
“We’re going to run our cities better, which, by the way, we’re starting to do. You look at some of the things that are happening in San Francisco and other places where we’re getting after, you know, crime and homelessness and drug abuse and actually governing better,” Smith added.
Notably, the issue of crime in major Democrat-led cities came under the media spotlight in August — after Trump first deployed the National Guard into Washington D.C. after a slew of crimes gained national attention.
While Democratic lawmakers and legacy media pundits claimed Trump was overreaching his powers, pointing to the city’s crime dropping 35% in 2024. Data from local police, however, leaves out certain crimes such as felonies and aggravated assaults, allowing crime rates to appear lower compared with 2020.
With crime significantly dropping in Washington, D.C., Trump has called for deploying the National Guard in major cities like Chicago to address crime issues. However, Democrats such as Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker have argued the National Guard isn’t necessary, highlighting videos of low-crime areas of Chicago appearing to show the city is safe.
Some Chicago residents have voiced opposition to the governor and Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson, saying Trump’s assistance would be welcomed in high-crime areas.
According to ABC7 Chicago, police data through Aug. 16 shows homicides in the city down 25% compared to 2023. Over the last 12 months, there have been 474 homicides, while the yearly average between 2021 and 2023 hit 722, the outlet reported.
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