Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Jon Stewart Says ‘Democrats Are Still A Mess’ After Election Wins

Screenshot/YouTube/ The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

Comedian Jon Stewart said on “The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart” Thursday that he believes the Democratic Party remains in disarray despite their election victories on Tuesday.

Democrats, such as New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, were all projected to have won their races by significant margins on Tuesday. Stewart said on his podcast that that while Tuesday’s Democratic wins demonstrated an “underlying potential energy” in the nation, the Democratic Party is not effectively channeling it.

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“I think the Democrats are still a mess. I truly believe they’re a mess just because what this shows to me is, again, there is this underlying potential energy within the United States of America that is much larger than I think any of us could have imagined,” Stewart said. “And channeling the energy directionally will be the challenge for whoever wants to harness it. I still don’t believe they’re doing that.”

The Democratic Party’s favorability stood at just 33.4% heading into Tuesday’s elections, according to the RealClearPolling average. A New York Times analysis of voter registration data published in August also found that the Democratic Party experienced a drop of around 2.1 million registered voters between 2020 and 2024.

Moreover, a July 16 Quinnipiac University poll found that just 19% of voters approved of Democrats in Congress, an all-time low for the polling outlet.

Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders warned on The New York Times’ “The Opinions” podcast Monday that the Democratic Party’s survival was not guaranteed, saying it needed to cease catering to elites.

“I think sometimes when people think about the Democratic Party, they think of these cocktail parties in New York City or LA, where wealthy people mingle with consultants, mingle with the leadership. That’s not much of a party,” he added. “That’s really kind of an elitist institution. So, one of the things that I believe — if the Democratic Party is to survive, maybe it will, maybe it won’t — the transformation has to be to open the doors, to bring in millions of people, to hear what they have to say, to have them start running for office, etc.”

Furthermore, Matt Bennett, co-founder of liberal think tank Third Way, asserted on “Next Up with Mark Halperin” in October that the Democratic Party would not recoup from its dismal state until it had its nominee for president.

“We’re in terrible shape. Like, we just have to be very honest with ourselves — the Democratic Party is in really, really bad shape,” Bennett said, citing the party’s poor approval rating.

“[T]he nominees and the presidents make the party brand, and for the next few years, we won’t have that. So it’s going to be a tough couple of years deep in the wilderness for us,” he said. “And I think there are some things we can do to set the table for the nominee. But right now, I don’t feel like we’re doing it.”