In one of the bluntest internal critiques from a sitting Democratic senator since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) ignited a political firestorm this week after telling The New York Times that the Democratic Party has “failed,” lost its sense of mission, and become consumed by Trump rather than focused on solutions. Booker’s comments—delivered during a wide-ranging interview published November 26, 2025—landed with the force of a political gut punch inside a party still struggling to understand its landslide losses in the 2024 elections.

“I’m one of those people who’s saying our party has failed. They’ve made terrible mistakes.”

Coming from a senator known more for optimism and bridge-building than intraparty warfare, the remarks were stunning—but, Booker insisted, necessary.

“We’re Centering Trump in Our Story—and That’s a Mistake”

Booker’s main critique is not that Democrats lack policy ideas, but that they have allowed Donald Trump to become the gravitational center of their political strategy, messaging, and identity.

“I don’t want Donald Trump to be the main character in our narrative,” Booker said. “We make a big mistake if we center him.”

While acknowledging the “existential urgencies” of Trump’s second-term agenda—mass deportations, purges of federal agencies, executive expansions, and high-profile legal battles—Booker argued that Democrats have leaned too heavily on warning about Trump rather than offering voters a compelling alternative.

He suggested that the party has adopted a political reflex of outrage rather than opportunity:

“Look… what he’s doing hurts people. But Americans need to see a future, not just fear.”

The critique echoes private Democratic complaints that Trump’s dominance of the news cycle has paralyzed party messaging and forced Democrats into perpetual reaction mode, leaving little room for agenda-setting or big ideas.

Invoking Roosevelt: A Lost Democratic Blueprint

To make his point, Booker invoked the iconic presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a leader who—amid national trauma—reimagined what government could do for working families:

“This was the nation where working people would have dignity at work, would be able to afford a home, to raise children, to give them a better life.”

Booker argued the party must reclaim that vision instead of leaning on “anti-Trumpism” as its main unifying force.

His message was unmistakable: Democrats need a why, not just a why not Trump.

Cable News Is Dead: Booker Warns Dems They’re Talking to the Wrong Audience

In a passage that raised eyebrows even among younger Democrats, Booker called out his own colleagues for clinging to cable television as if it were still 2008.

“My fellow Democrats, you guys are running to go do MSNBC… but that only got 100,000 views,” Booker said, emphasizing that cable’s influence has collapsed.

He contrasted that with his own experience:

“One video of mine can get more than the top-rated shows on MSNBC.”

His message is blunt:
Democrats are broadcasting to ghosts.
The real political persuasion is happening on platforms like:

TikTok

YouTube

Instagram

X

Podcasts and livestreams

This reflects a generational divide inside the party: older leaders cling to “Morning Joe,” while younger voters—who handed Biden victories in 2020 and 2022—aren’t watching cable at all.

Booker warned that Democrats will continue to lose ground unless they modernize communication, meet voters where they actually spend time, and embrace storytelling that feels lived-in, not lectured.

A Party in Identity Crisis—and Booker Knows It

Booker did not attack individual Democrats, nor did he name names, but his critique lands squarely on the party establishment, whose leaders have struggled to craft a coherent response to the Trump administration’s sweeping use of executive authority.

His remarks come as:

Senate Democrats remain divided over how aggressively to confront Trump’s deportation waves

House Democrats struggle to regain messaging traction after losing dozens of seats in 2024

Younger Democrats clash with older leadership over strategy, tone, and media priorities

The party lacks a clear successor in the post-Biden, post-Harris era

Booker’s message appears positioned as a wake-up call:
reinvent or fall further behind.

Why Booker Is Saying This Now

Booker has often been seen as a moral voice of the party—a unifier, not a disruptor. But Democrats’ recent electoral losses and inability to forcefully counter Trump’s messaging have clearly pushed him to speak more candidly.

Booker is also one of the few Democrats comfortable calling out his own side without alienating broad swaths of the base. His credibility comes from:

A long history of progressive policy advocacy

A moderate, bipartisan reputation in the Senate

Strong ties to Black voters

A national profile post-2020 presidential campaign

Media savvy across both traditional and digital platforms

Party insiders say Booker is part of a growing faction urging Democrats to embrace a forward-looking, working-class agenda, especially as Trump makes inroads among Black, Latino, and union voters—a trend unthinkable a decade ago.

Reaction: Praise, Fury, and Quiet Agreement Behind Closed Doors

Booker’s remarks sparked immediate political tremors.

Progressives

Many younger Democrats and activists praised Booker for saying what they have felt for years:

“He’s right. We can’t out-hate Trump. We have to out-imagine him,” one progressive strategist told CNN.

Moderate Democrats

Others were furious:

“This isn’t helpful. Not now,” a senior Democratic aide told POLITICO.
“It feeds Trump’s narrative of Democratic collapse.”

Republicans

Conservatives gleefully amplified the interview, framing it as confirmation that Democrats are “in disarray.”

Privately

Several senior Democrats reportedly told NYT that Booker “isn’t wrong”—but they wish he “hadn’t said it out loud.”

What This Means for 2026 and 2028

Booker is not running for president in 2028 as of now, but his comments sharpen a broader debate looming over the Democratic Party:

Should Democrats continue attacking Trump as a singular threat to democracy?

Or should they focus on building a Roosevelt-style working-class coalition?

Should the party cling to traditional media, or reinvent how it communicates?

And most importantly: What does the party stand for in the post-Biden era?

Booker’s critique could push the party to rethink its messaging as it seeks to reclaim working-class voters Trump has successfully wooed.

Bottom Line

Sen. Cory Booker just did what few Democrats have dared to do publicly:
declare his own party a failure—and demand it reinvent itself before it’s too late.

He isn’t just warning Democrats about Trump.
He’s warning them about themselves.

This moment may mark a turning point—or become yet another ignored alarm.

The next year will show which version of the Democratic Party emerges.