Democratic strategist James Carville joined presidential candidate Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet on MSNBC Saturday evening to talk about the current state of the Democratic Party and how they could lose again to Donald Trump in 2020.



He made the case that the Democratic Party is "too stupid" to attack President Trump on issues that matter to people in real life and too focused on "causing trouble" about "goofy things" on Twitter.



Carville disputed the notion he says is pushed by the media that President Trump is "powerful" and "strong," saying: "The problem here is the Democratic Party. The problem is we can't seem... to talk about things that are relevant and matter in people's lives. We're out there chasing every kind of goofy thing that we can."



"To MSNBC," he said, "Manhattan is the epicenter of the Democratic Party."



"The Democratic Party I know consists largely, a lot of African Americans. It consists of a lot of suburban women. It a lot it’s a lot of Latino and Asians and people of color. It's a lot of older retirees," explained. "The Democratic Party that I read about, and I see on television, is a bunch of people on Twitter running around, causing trouble."



"The idea of a political party is to win elections. That's all it's about. If you don't do that, you have done nothing. It's not to make a point, it's not to start a revolution, it's not to win an argument. It is to win the election," he said.



"That's it. Everything else is theory. The Republicans laugh at us," he said. "All I hear from my friends is, 'Oh, he’s so powerful.' Why don’t we go there? Why don’t they cover that he went to Davos to talk to all of these global elites, and after he gave them all trillion-dollar tax cuts, he said, 'I’m going to get the money by cutting Medicare for people back in the United States.' And the Democratic Party is too stupid to say anything about it. And the press is so worried about the horse race that they don’t even report it."



"So we're going to get in the middle of this thing, we're going to do an intervention."



Transcript:





SEN. MICHAEL BENNET: We lost the election to a climate denier last time, and we lost the election to a climate denier because Donald Trump made the case that if we deal with climate change we will destroy our economy. If we ignore climate change our economy is going to be great. That is a ridiculous argument, but he won that argument because there were enough voters who didn't think Democrats cared about their jobs and cared about their wages that he was willing to win, and I don't want to lose that argument again to Trump.



STEPHANIE RUHLE: James, what does that tell you about the American voter? That the American voter was willing to vote for someone like that and might do it again?



JAMES CARVILLE: First off, he got 46%. Let’s just don’t go overboard here. He got 44.8% in 2018. He suffered the worst electoral defeat in the House ever. It was the highest turnout against him since women were granted the right to vote. His polling average is 43.2%, but yet the media’s going he’s so strong, He's so powerful. He’s so this.



No, he's not. The problem here is the Democratic Party. The problem is we can't seem, other than Sen. Bennet and maybe Sen. Klobuchar and Mayor Pete somewhat, to talk about things that are relevant and matter in people's lives. We're out there chasing every kind of goofy thing that we can.



I just think I've never been prouder of anything I've done than to come up here and try to hep Sen. Bennet -- I love the United States and we have to do something here...



I have the idea of the Democratic Party that I read about, and I see on television, and that is a bunch of people on Twitter running around, causing trouble. The Democratic Party I know consists largely, a lot of African Americans. It consists of a lot of suburban women. It a lot it’s a lot of Latino and Asians and people of color. It's a lot of older retirees. To me, that’s the Democratic Party. But to MSNBC, the Democratic Party is -- Manhattan is the epicenter of the Democratic Party.



MICHAEL BENNET: Can I say this on the Democratic Party? We won the House of Representatives in 2018. We flipped 40 seats. How? 39 out of 40 Democrats ran on a public option, one ran on Medicare For All. That's how we put Trump on defense. Trump's the only president in American history who's taking insurance away from millions of Americans. We should be on offense. In '18 we were on offense, and we won. In '20 we can't go into this election on defense on health care.



JAMES CARVILLE: Senator Bennet and I never tire of pointing out. We won the governorship in Kentucky and Louisiana. Trump came into Kentucky and Louisiana and made it about himself, and they lost.



Why don't we do what [Louisiana] Governor John Bel Edwards did, why don't we do what my friend [Kentucky] Governor Andy Beshear did and concentrate on things that matter in people's lives?



I've got to sit here and listen to how powerful Donald Trump is, oh my God. If we nominate the right people, if we nominate Beshearian and Edwardsian Democrats we're going to win a lot, and Senator Bennet fits in that. The idea of a political party is to win elections. That's all it's about. If you don't do that, you have done nothing. It's not to make a point, it's not to start a revolution, it's not to win an argument. It is to win the election. This is the man that can win the election.



MICHAEL BENNET: And if you think he's wrong about that, look at yesterday's "New York Times" article about impeachment. The final quote is from Mitch McConnell, and Mitch McConnell says in there, they didn't have the votes, and maybe if they won more elections, they'd have the votes. That's what Mitch McConnell said. It's the same thing James is saying. We have to win. There's no other way through this but to win.



JAMES CARVILLE: That's it. Everything else is theory. The Republicans laugh at us because they ran through every issue that people don’t like, from giving tax breaks to rich people to ignoring climate. He went to Davos, Donald Trump went to Davos and said he wanted to cut Medicare, and where’s the discussion about this?



But all I hear from -- 'oh, he’s so powerful.' Why don’t we go out there? Why don’t they cover that he went to Davos to talk to all of these global elites, and after he gave them all trillion-dollar tax cuts, he said I’m going to get the money by cutting Medicare for people back in the United States? And the Democratic Party is too stupid to say anything about it. And the press is so worried about the horse race that they don’t even report it.



So we're going to get in the middle of this thing, we're going to do an intervention and Sen. Bennet is going to come out of [New Hampshire] strong.