Criticism of "over-the-top wokeism" in the Democratic Party is a "valid attack," Sen. Mark Warner admitted on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Politico reported.
The Virginia Democrat said that "I think the Democrats' brand is really bad, and I think this was an election based on culture. And the Democrats' failure to connect on a cultural basis with a wide swath of Americans is hugely problematic."
Warner told Politico that the majority of the party realizes that the ideological purity of some of the groups is a recipe for disaster and that, candidly, the attack on over-the-top wokeism was a valid attack.
He pointed out that "until you can make a cultural connection, I'm not sure people are gonna listen to you on issues." The senator said that "President [Donald] Trump can say virtually anything and it's forgotten within the same 24-hour news period, so that is a whine and a complaint, but it's the reality."
Warner acknowledged, however, that fewer people consume traditional media and that "Trump was so ahead of his time on sorting that out with a huge reinforcing network of supporters, of followers. That's extraordinary, and Democrats have got a lot to learn from that."