Washington Free Beacon editor in chief Matthew Continetti said Thursday that the emerging field of Democrats running for president in 2020 is "lackluster" and has yet to produce a strong challenger to President Donald Trump.
Continetti appeared on Fox News' "Special Report," where he discussed the Democrats running against Trump or mulling whether to do so.
"We were talking just recently about that latest Gallup poll, which showed now a majority of Democrats identify themselves as liberals," Continetti said. "All of these potential 2020 candidates can read that poll, so they're all tacking left, not really thinking, I think, about what it means for the general election."
"I do believe," Continetti continued, "that there is this overconfidence among Democrats that President Trump is unpopular to such a degree that basically any Democrat will be able to beat him in 2020. I don't think that's the case."
Continetti then indicated that he is unimpressed with the field of Democratic candidates that is forming.
"When I see this field emerge, so far it's rather lackluster. Not very accomplished people or even people who have really professional campaigns or high name ID at this point," he said. "In 1988, there were the Seven Dwarves that the Democrats ran. I think in 2020 we're going to have the 20 Smurfs. It's the same thing."
Already several Democrats have either declared their candidacy or formed presidential exploratory committees to consider the possibility, including former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, former Rep. John Delaney (Md.), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.).