In an interview on NBC's 'Meet The Press,' former Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) said that the Democratic Party has moved "very far to the left" over the past few years.



"You can't have a Jefferson-Jackson dinner, which was a primary celebratory event of the Democratic Party for years, because Jefferson and Jackson were slaveholders," Webb lamented. "They were also great Americans in their day. Something different has happened to the Democratic Party."



He said that the party's focus on "identity politics" has lost them a "key part of the their base."



He continued: "The people who believe that regardless of any of these identity segments, you need to have a voice in a quarters of power for those that have no voice. And we've lost that for the Democratic Party."





WEBB: Well, in so many words, I didn't say that the system needed a President Trump, but I've been saying for a long time that the system we're operating under needs some sort of -- you would call it jolt. I think both parties have sort of gotten calcified.



And let's remember that if Hillary Clinton had won, you would be seeing the same sort of activities that you're seeing now. They would just be focused on different things. There would be people saying she belongs in jail. There would be people talking about corruption, turnstile government et cetera, et cetera.



So, what we're seeing playing out right now, first of all -- and as the governor mentioned, this

is a new administration getting its wheels under it, but at the same time, this is an attempt by President Trump to pull different types of people into the system from the old turnstile government. There's

a lot of Republicans that are mad at him. We're sitting out there in the think tanks thinking that they were going to come into a Republican administration.



And also, he's got to pay back, I think that he feels strongly about in terms of the people who actually put him over, these voters that were alienated, were not voting, and these issues, the controversial issues that he's pointing out -- in the wrong kind of forum I think are issues of credibility...



Well, you know, there is a campaign going on, on the Hill in the media, in the academia to personally discredit not only Donald Trump, but the people who are around him. And you know, the end result is to slow down the process, by the way, you and I were talking a minute about the confirmation process, slow it down so that by '18 when the Democrats are very vulnerable, particularly in the Senate, there will not be a record of accomplishment that they can run against.



And at the same time, the Democratic Party over the past five or six years has moved very far to the left. When you can't have a Jefferson-Jackson dinner, which was the primary celebratory event of the Democratic Party for years because Jefferson and Jackson were slave holders, they were also great Americans in their day, something just different has happened to the Democratic Party.



TODD: Do you think there are two folks on identity politics?



WEBB: Well, I think the message that has been shaped by the Democratic Party has been shaped toward identity politics, and they've lost the key part of their base, the people -- my family history goes back to the Roosevelt Democrats, the people who believed that regardless of any of these identity segments, you need to have a voice in the quarters of power for those who have no voice. And we've lost that with the Democratic Party.



I'm not saying the Republicans have it.