Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) implied in a recent interview that the Democratic Party is like the ill-fated Titanic, adding that some Democrats want to go along with the "status quo" and sink with the ship.

"Certainly there are some people in the Democratic Party who want to maintain the status quo," Sanders told the New York Times Magazine when asked "if he thought the Democratic Party knew what it stood for."

"They would rather go down with the Titanic so long as they have first-class seats," Sanders continued.

Sanders ran for president in 2016 as a more progressive alternative to then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. He has challenged the Democratic Party to shift to the left, arguing that many establishment Democrats are beholden to Wall Street and other big-money interests.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), another member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party suggested to the Times in the same article that President Donald Trump's election reminded Democrats that they should focus on their values.

"Our values are more in line with most of America," Warren said.

The Democratic Party has faced internal turmoil since Republicans regained the White House in November in a surprise election victory. While some progressives are pushing for the party to become more liberal, more centrist Democrats have called for Democratic leadership to reach out to Trump supporters in Middle America.

"We're at the point now where we are not even a national party at this point," Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio) said days after the presidential election. "We have some support on the coast, but we lost the support of Middle America."