Outgoing DNC chair pushes back against calls for Democrats to abandon 'identity politics'

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Jaime Harrison, whose four-year tenure expires at the end of the year, urged Democrats to push back against calls to abandon “identity politics.”

Harrison drew on his own identity as a Black man as he delivered remarks to state Democratic chairs in Arizona on Thursday.

“When I wake up in the morning, when I look in the mirror, when I step out the door, I can’t rub this off. This is who I am,” he said, motioning around his face, The Associated Press reported. “This is how the world perceives me.”

“That is my identity. And it is not politics. It is my life. And the people that I need in the party, that I need to stand up for me, have to recognize that,” Harrison added. “You cannot run away from that.”

Democrats have questioned their messaging and are seeking answers following widespread election losses last month — especially as the GOP prepares to take full control of government in January.

Harrison, in an interview with The Hill’s “The Switch Up” earlier this year, stressed the vitality of Black voters in the 2024 election. The key voting bloc largely supported President Biden in 2020, but President-elect Trump was able to make inroads with Black men in particular this cycle.

Since former President Obama’s first election in 2008, Democrats’ support among Black men has been slipping. 

Exit polls have showed that while 80 percent of Black men backed Biden in 2020, that number fell from the 82 percent who supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. Clinton’s support was also significantly lower than Obama’s 95 percent in 2008 and 87 percent during his 2012 reelection bid.

On the campaign trail, Obama also called on Black men to turn out for Vice President Harris, though he received some backlash for the remarks.

The race to replace Harrison as DNC leader is already underway, with the election set for Feb. 1.

The current leader has said his “muzzle” will come off after the next chair is announced, adding that he has grievances that need to come out, according to AP.

“That’s it for you all,” he added later as he wrapped up his speech Thursday. “Because I’m saving the rest for my book. And I am naming names.”

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

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