ADVERTISEMENT

Tom Perez Dodges on Whether Democratic Party Is Going 'More Toward the Left'

July 26, 2017

Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez dodged Bloomberg's Kevin Cirilli on Wednesday when he asked whether the Democratic Party was adopting a populist tone and moving "more toward the left."

Perez pivoted away from Cirilli's question and said that the Democratic Party is fighting for what the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D., Mass.) fought for during his Senate career.

"We want to make sure we are fighting for the issues that people care most about," Perez said. "They want a good job that pays a fair wage. They want to make sure that if you work forty hours a week, you can feed your family. They want to make sure that health care is a right for all and not a privilege for a few."

Perez said that these are the issues that Democrats have always been fighting for and that he wants to make sure people get a "fair shake."

"Too many people feel like the doors are closed for them, that the system doesn't work for them, and what we're doing as Democrats is clearly articulating what we stand for, and putting those values into action and contrasting them with the idle chatter and the empty talk of this administration," Perez said.

Top Democrats in Congress rolled out an economic agenda on Monday as an attempt to rebrand their economic message. Their new slogan, "A Better Deal: Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Wages," however, was a flop as several liberals and media personalities castigated the name.