The Democratic National Committee is facing growing internal turmoil after finally releasing a long-delayed internal “autopsy” examining why Democrats lost the 2024 election, with the report sharply criticizing former Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign strategy and party leadership.
The 192-page report, released Thursday after months of internal pressure, concluded that Harris “wrote off rural America” during her presidential campaign and failed to hit President Donald Trump with enough aggressive negative messaging.
But the release itself immediately triggered another wave of backlash against DNC Chairman Ken Martin, who had delayed publishing the findings despite previously promising transparency.
Martin admitted Thursday that withholding the report had become “an even bigger distraction” than releasing it earlier would have been.
“I didn’t want to create a distraction,” Martin wrote. “Ironically, in doing so, I ended up creating an even bigger distraction. And for that, I sincerely apologize.”
The DNC reportedly added annotations and disclaimers throughout the report arguing many conclusions lacked sourcing or sufficient evidence.
Even so, the document painted a bleak picture of the Democratic Party’s current political standing.
Among its harshest findings was the conclusion that Democrats had become disconnected from large portions of the country, especially rural and working-class voters.
“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report stated.
The autopsy also argued Democrats relied too heavily on identity politics while failing to directly address economic frustrations among male voters and working Americans.
“Male voters require direct engagement,” the report stated. “Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color.”
The report further criticized Democrats for failing to aggressively prosecute the political case against Trump during the election.
“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report concluded.
It specifically argued Democrats failed to sufficiently weaponize Trump’s felony convictions and legal controversies against him, as the Associated Press reported.
The report also acknowledged that Trump’s attacks on Harris’ support for taxpayer-funded transgender procedures for prison inmates became a highly effective campaign issue.
According to the document, Democratic strategists believed Harris was politically “boxed in” by her previous comments and unable to effectively respond once the issue gained traction nationally.
Notably, the report avoided some of the most explosive controversies surrounding the 2024 campaign.
It largely sidestepped former President Joe Biden’s decision to initially seek reelection, the chaotic process that elevated Harris after Biden withdrew and the party’s internal divisions over Gaza policy.
That omission itself generated backlash.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called the lack of discussion about Gaza “notable” and declined to fully endorse Martin’s leadership when asked about the report.
Meanwhile, prominent Democratic strategist Dan Pfeiffer publicly declared that Martin “must go,” calling the handling of the report “a disaster of his own making.”
Amanda Litman, founder of the Democratic-aligned group Run For Something, blasted Martin as fundamentally incapable of rebuilding trust within the party ahead of the 2028 presidential cycle.
The report’s release comes as Democrats continue struggling with internal divisions, declining working-class support and questions about the party’s future direction following Trump’s return to the White House.
And rather than calming tensions inside the Democratic Party, the autopsy appears to have intensified a growing civil war over who — and what — is truly responsible for the party’s 2024 collapse.
