Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) participated in a town hall on Friday where she told the crowd that Democrats won't have a "true leader" until 2020.
McCaskill read a question from a constituent who asked how the Democratic National Committee can be more effective in preparing for the next presidential election in 2020, according to a video obtained by the NTK Network.
"Anybody who thinks national parties are ever going to be the key to real change in this country probably hasn't spent enough time around political parties," McCaskill said.
She went on to say that there is a lot of jockeying for political positions and that it would take time for Democrats to have a leader.
"The bottom line is I don't think that my party will have a true leader until we have a nominee for president in 2020," she said.
"I think we are going to have lots of good leaders between now and then. A lot of people who are going to be trying to do the best job they know how to convince you and others that they would be a good president. And once the Democratic Party nominates someone for president in 2020, then you'll see a coalescing where the national party will kind of fall in under that president," she said.
She went on to say that she doesn't pay much attention to the national Democratic Party, and that it doesn't help her.
McCaskill joins a long line of Democratic lawmakers who have not been able to or refuse to name the leader of the Democratic Party.