‘This Is Wonderful!’ James Carville Literally Takes His Hat Off In Sarcastic Praise For Abdul El-Sayed

Democratic strategist James Carville mockingly tipped his hat to newly nominated Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed during a testy exchange on CNN, dismissing what he portrayed as overblown enthusiasm surrounding the progressive’s primary victory from both the network and pundits as he warned Democrats against the “revolution.”

El-Sayed secured the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan this week after defeating moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, who had backing from prominent establishment Democrats, in a closely fought primary. The victory sends El-Sayed into a November showdown with Republican Mike Rogers.

His win adds to a string of recent successes for left-leaning candidates in Democratic primaries, though El-Sayed said he is not a democratic socialist; he received backing from prominent members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Carville appeared on CNN News Central on Friday when anchor Brianna Keilar pointed to recent primary wins by progressive candidates as evidence of a growing populist streak within the Democratic Party.

Keilar noted that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s preferred candidates had come up short in several high-profile primaries, including Michigan, before asking whether the party’s establishment still had a firm grasp on Democratic voters.

Carville pushed back on the broader narrative emerging from El-Sayed’s win, arguing that the significance of the result was being overstated.

“I don’t know, and I don’t know if Democratic voters are looking for that. But let me take my hat off,” he said, physically taking off his hat. “You got 48% in a primary, you’re being hailed on CNN as revolutionary, complete tidal wave hitting the United States, it’s the latest greatest thing that ever happened.”

He continued: “And what I’m saying here is, I would go a little bit slow maybe if I was analyzing this, and I would also say, you’re going to have your chance in 2028, but boy, we’re all into it- we’re all into the revolution now. And we’re all, ‘wow, yes, this is great, this is wonderful!”

“You got to get everybody who voted for your opponent in the primary to vote for you in the general,” he added, warning El-Sayed: “Maybe you need to do some hard political work and develop some political skills that make you more accessible to more voters. That’s just me off the top of my head.”

“But excuse me for not being on the bandwagon here that this is a giant movement that is sweeping the country,” he concluded.

Keilar defended the discussion, responding: “You’re allowed to not be on the bandwagon, but we would be remiss to not discuss trends that we’re seeing or popular figures that we’re seeing that are having electoral success.”

Watch above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!