James Carville Says ‘Progressive Left’ Candidates Are Shockingly Ignorant of Their Own Unpopularity: ‘People Don’t Like Them’

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville vented his frustrations on CNN over the “progressive left” and their ignorance.

Carville spoke with CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan for a special titled, The Whole Story: The Left Insurgency, set to air at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday. The special focuses on the rise of progressive and Democratic socialist candidates, and Carville did not hold back on his feelings about progressive liberals. O’Sullivan shared the Carville clip on Friday morning.

Carville cited Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed when arguing “progressive left” candidates are unaware of how unpopular they are to general voters.

“Let’s take in Michigan. El-Sayed is highly-competent, but he’s way left. I see challenges from the, quote progressive left, unquote, and these people are too horn-headed to know that they’re not popular. People don’t like them, but if you get a skewed turnout in a primary, you might end up losing a race that you should have never lost in the first place,” Carville said.

O’Sullivan noted that when Carville said “progressive left,” there seemed to be obvious “contempt” in his voice.

“When you say ‘progressive left,’ there’s a tone of contempt there,” O’Sullivan said.

“Yes. You are very wise. I hope the camera was able to pick up the contempt,” Carville responded.

El-Sayed is running in Michigan against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI).

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) is the most notable Democratic socialist to break through the ranks and win a major election and he’s boosted other progressives in primaries. Of those candidates he endorsed, Brad Lander unseated Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier toppled Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY).

A CNN poll released this week showed one third of Democrats or Democrat-leaning voters now identify as Democratic socialists. That same survey found nearly 50% of those Democrats believe their party needs “major changes” going forward.

Watch above via CNN.

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