David Litt: Former speechwriter for Barack Obama on the next steps for the Democrats after losing the US election

There's uncertainty among the Democrats as Donald Trump prepares to take up the White House reins.

The Republican Party has attained a decisive victory, winning the presidency with Donald Trump, majority in the Senate - and holding a strong lead in the House of Representatives. 

David Litt, a former speechwriter for Barack Obama, says inflation and economic troubles contributed to a difficult environment for the Democrats.

"It was really a full-scale shift compared to 2020. I think the biggest thing the Democrats faced was a headwind from inflation - that was a serious problem in the United States." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now the Democrats, I mean talk about meltdown. Democrats are
dealing with a bad hangover from last night, aren't they.
Kamala Harris has promised to give a very good speech today.
I promised they will be an orderly transition of power.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
We must accept the results of this election. Earlier today
I spoke with President elect Trump and congratulated him on
his victory.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
I also told him that we will help him and
his team with their transition and that we will engage
in a peaceful transfer of power. Now, David List is
a Democrat and a former speech tried it to Barack Obama.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
David, Hello, Hi, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
What do you think the Democrats did wrong in the end.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
I think it's going to take a couple of weeks,
maybe even months to fully figure it out, because this
was really an across the board reversion back to Donald Trump.
I mean I used the word of version. It was
actually bigger than that. Almost everywhere in the country shifted
by about six percent toward Donald Trump. And that was
true across geography, It was true across ages races. You know,

(01:03):
it was really a full scale shift rightward compared to
twenty twenty. I think the biggest thing that Democrats faced
was a headwind from inflation that was, you know, a
serious problem in the United States two years ago, and
prices have stopped growing since then, but people are very
aware of how much prices have grown, and so I

(01:24):
think that ultimately one of the things as a Democrat
I find myself wondering is what could have been done
to prevent this? And I don't know if there's an answer.
I don't know if we will know an answer, because
this was something where it turned out to be a
much more difficult environment than democrats realized.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
I've seen a lot of commentary from you know, publications
around the world that tend to lean right, like the
Telegraph and the UK and stuff, and they say, what
this is basically is a vote against everything the Democrats
stand for, things like diversity and you know, just and like,
let's call it wokiness. Do you know, if you like,

(02:00):
do you think it is that? Is it a culture
war vote or is it purely an economic vote?

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I think no vote is all one thing or another.
I absolutely think that there are a set of people
in the country who find Democrats annoying. And I will
say I'm a Democrat and sometimes I find Democrats annoying.
At the same time, I think that it was really
shocking to me how many people were apparently willing to
overlook Donald Trump's danger and the threat that he poses

(02:29):
to the country and to the world. Quite frankly, you know,
I think in part because Democrats can sometimes be a
little bit irritating. And as I said, not only do
I think that democrats can sometimes be irritating, I have
been an irritating Democrat, so I think there is some
truth to that, but I also think it doesn't fully
explain this result. It's going to take a while to
figure it.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Out, but probably right what does he pose to the
country into the world.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
I think the most important thing that is just shocking
to me and shocking to a lot of people right
now is Trump. I mean, this was a small de
democratic process. He won the popular vote, but the fact
remains the last time he ran for president, he lost
the vote, he incited an insurrection at the capitol to
try to undo the will of the people and sees

(03:15):
power even though he had lost an election and overturn
that election, and now voters have rewarded him with another
four years. That's a really scary thing. I mean, we
know this is not someone who cares about the peaceful
transfer of power. It's not somebody who cares about the Constitution.
And we're going to have to reckon with that as
a country. And because of America's place in the world,

(03:35):
I think the world is going to have to reckon
with what that means. And then I also think there's
America's place in the international order. You know, Trump has
talked about pulling out of NATO. He clearly is friendlier
with dictators like Putin and She of China and Kim
Jongan of North Korea then he is with democratically elected
leaders around the world. We don't know what's going to

(03:56):
happen next, but there's going to be real uncertainty, and
I would be surprised, pleasantly surprised, but surprised if it
ends well.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, David, listen, thanks for talking us so it really
appreciate it, and go well. That's David Litt, former speechwriter
for Barack Obama.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
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Speaker 1 (04:13):
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