A prominent New York Times columnist condemned the Democratic National Committee’s delayed 2024 election review on Friday, calling the report “mysterious” and “ridiculous” after months of internal party disputes over its release.
The DNC released the 192-page postmortem Thursday, examining why Democrats lost the 2024 presidential election. DNC Chairman Ken Martin had initially promised to release the autopsy during his campaign for the position but later reversed course, declaring it would remain private.
What the Critic Said
Columnist Michelle Goldberg wrote that the document “was kept under wraps not because it was impolitic, but because it’s a disaster.” She criticized the report for lacking substantive analysis of the party’s electoral failures.
Goldberg noted that the words “Israel” and “Gaza” do not appear in the report despite months of progressive concern that Middle East policy contributed to Democratic losses. “It offers little insight into why the Democratic Party lost large numbers of Black and Latino men, or its failure to speak to disconnected, irregular voters,” she wrote.
She added that the report’s secrecy fueled speculation about its contents. “Some thought he was protecting Kamala Harris ahead of 2028. Many progressives were convinced that the D.N.C. quashed the autopsy because it would show Harris was done in by Gaza,” Goldberg noted.
Conservative Perspective
Washington Post columnist Ramesh Ponnuru also highlighted significant omissions from the analysis. “There’s nothing about President Joe Biden’s age and voters’ worries about it. Nothing about the border crisis the Democrats first caused through their policies and then denied in their rhetoric,” he said.
Ponnuru pointed to additional gaps regarding religious voters and progressive policy positions. The report also did not fault Vice President Kamala Harris despite her campaign spending $1.5 billion.
What the Report Found
The postmortem, written by Democratic strategist Paul Rivera, identified infrastructure failures within the DNC itself. The analysis cited declining voter registration efforts, reduced financial support for state parties, and insufficient engagement with key voter groups.
The report recommended that Democrats refocus on voters in Middle America and the heavily Republican South. However, it carried a disclaimer stating it “reflects the views of the author, not the DNC” and that underlying data could not be independently verified.
DNC Chair’s Response
Martin distanced himself from the finished product. “I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” he said, adding that he could not “in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it.”
Martin released the report for transparency purposes “as I received it – in its entirety, unedited and unabridged – with annotations for claims that couldn’t be verified.” Rivera, a longtime Democratic consultant, had not worked on a presidential campaign in more than two decades.
This story has been updated. CNN’s Politics team contributed to this report.