CNN’s Scott Jennings: Democrats Lost Working-Class Support to Trump

ATLANTA, Ga. — CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings highlighted a dramatic shift in the Democratic Party’s voter base during a discussion on CNN NewsNight on Tuesday. He argued that the working-class demographic that supported the party in the 1990s has largely transitioned to the Republican Party.

“All the Clinton guys you’re talking about – those working-class guys from the 90s – they’re all Trump guys now,” Jennings stated. This comment came after fellow panelist Chuck Rocha, a liberal podcaster, emphasized that the Democratic Party has strayed from addressing the concerns of working-class individuals.

Rocha, who identifies as a non-college-educated Latino and recalls his tough upbringing, said, “We have to start showing up back where regular people are and not being this overeducated – whatever the thing is.” Jennings supported this notion, recalling how his working-class father was one of the first to recognize Trump’s potential appeal.

He shared, “You know, my dad – a working-class guy, worked in a factory, was a garbage man for a while – was the biggest Clinton guy I knew in the 90s. He was the first guy to tell me Donald Trump was going to be the next President of the United States.” Jennings confessed, “And I was wrong, and he was right.”

Jennings remarked that the male working-class base of the Democratic Party “is gone.” Shermichael Singleton, another CNN commentator, chimed in, claiming that many Democrats are out of touch with everyday struggles, calling them “corporate people” and “elitist.”

Following the 2024 presidential election, concerns over the party’s connection with working-class voters have grown. Notable figures, including Senator Bernie Sanders, acknowledged that the party has lost those voters, stating, “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working-class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.”

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod added that the party’s message fails to resonate with working-class voters, leading many to align more closely with the Republican candidate.