BURSTRahm Emanuel, who serves as the U.S. ambassador to Japan, took aim at the Democratic Party in the wake of its election losses, suggesting that its messaging didn't focus enough on voters' "disillusionment" with the government.
Meanwhile, President-elect Trump did, Emanuel wrote in an op-ed published Tuesday by The Washington Post.
"In contrast, the Democratic Party has been blind to the rising sea of disillusionment. In today’s America, aspiration and ambition have been supplanted by anger and animosity. Talk about missing the moment," wrote Emanuel, whose name has been floated as a potential candidate for the next leader of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
"This groundswell of resentment had been simmering for years. Trump just seized on it," Emanuel added in the essay.
Emanuel's op-ed comes after the Republican Party secured a trifecta in November's elections. Democrats have been playing a blame game in the aftermath of their losses, with some arguing that ineffective messaging on kitchen-table economic issues such as inflation, wages and the accelerating trend of wealth inequality was the culprit. Others have contended the trouble stems from the heated debate over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, while still others have attributed the problems to culture war battles, including LGBTQ issues such as transgender rights.
In the essay, Emanuel argued that the Democratic Party has reinforced the idea that it is akin to the "aloof elite" by not focusing enough on issues that directly impacted voters, like inflation or students' decreasing academic scores.
"Meanwhile, our language and priorities have reinforced the 'aloof elite' stereotype. With inflation stinging, school absenteeism skyrocketing and students’ academic scores plummeting, Democrats consumed themselves in debates over pronouns, bathroom access and renaming schools and adopted terms such as 'care economy' and 'Latinx' to win over voters," Emanuel wrote.
"It was a hermetically sealed conversation with ourselves, and we appeared much as we sounded: distant and detached," he added.
Meanwhile, Emanuel argued, Trump's messaging resonated with the "feelings of abandonment" that voters had.
"Trump, on the other hand, captured the underlying zeitgeist. Rather than using his messaging against the Kamala Harris of 2024, he depicted her as the senator of the 2020 primaries, whose positions left her looking out of touch. Sure, his unfiltered words were crude — and often derogatory — but they reflected people’s feelings of abandonment," he wrote.
Emanuel in the essay called on the party to focus on the issues that matter to voters, "reveal the populist Trump as a plutocrat" and find the "right candidates" for future elections that aren't "career politicians."
"November was a jarring reminder that misjudging the mood of a nation can be catastrophic. If Democrats are to make the most of the next election, they must ready their message and messengers, abandon failed orthodoxies and embrace strategies with a record of delivering seats, success and real prosperity," Emanuel wrote.