New York political leader Mark Levine told CNN, Wednesday, that the Democratic Party could no longer afford to ignore working class voters, even in traditionally blue strongholds like New York City.
“We cannot take working class voters for granted,” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, a Democrat, said on CNN, Wednesday.
“Democrats have to do better at that,” he said, warning the party that rhetoric on climate and forgiving student loan debt is “not moving swing [voters]” and “working class voters.”
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Levine spoke out on CNN after he was one of many officials interviewed in a recent Politico story on Democrats’ concerns that the Biden campaign is doomed to failure.
“New York Democrats need to wake up,” Levine told the outlet. “The number of people in New York, including people of color that I come across who are saying positive things about Trump, is alarming.”
When explaining his comments to Politico, Levine said that there has been a “rising red wave in New York going back to at least 2020.”
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“The president has a great record to run on with unemployment low, and forgiving student debt, and progress on climate and so much more,” he explained.
But working-class voters in New York City are more concerned about the rising cost of living, “public safety” and “immigration” than in legislation passed during Biden’s presidency, Levine said.
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Levine told Democrats that they need to focus more on positive political messaging to win over voters.
“We are not against police,” he said, “we are for safe, fair, effective policing. We are not against security at the border, we’re for compassion for all people in this country, no matter their documentation status. And we certainly can‘t be the party that‘s against building housing. We should be the party that‘s pro-housing to deal with this affordability crisis.”
Levine and other Democrats’ warnings to their party follow Trump’s historic campaign rally in New York City in the South Bronx.
Trump rallied a crowd of what law enforcement estimated was between 8,000 to 10,000 supporters at Crotona Park in the Bronx in May.
The former president is also gaining traction on the national level ahead of the November election.
A recent Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll found Trump leading Biden in seven key swing states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Biden won every one of those states but North Carolina in 2020, and they were decisive to his victory.
Fox News’ Aubrie Spady and Andrew Murray contributed to this report.
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