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CNN analyst says ‘poorly produced’ DNC ignored ‘white working-class’ on night one

August 20, 2024 | | Print Article

As the Democratic National Convention kicked off in Chicago on Monday, the message of the night was aimed at the party’s “base” and excluded some demographics.

This was the argument put forth by CNN political commentator David Urban who told “CNN News Central” Tuesday morning that people like himself were “clearly not the audience” for the many speeches the night before.

Anchor Sara Sidner asked for Urban’s take after mentioning how the DNC crowd was yelling “Lock him up, lock him up! Something that Donald Trump and all of the rallies in 2016 and all the way into now that you heard over and over and over from the crowd.”

“Let her have her moment, like, I don’t begrudge them the moment right?” responded Urban, who served as an advisor to Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.

“My take on last night was like, as John said, I’m clearly not the audience. My takeaway was several things, right?” he continued.

“One, this was a very base…One, the Democrats better get their act together because it was terribly orchestrated and put together. Took too long. Joe Biden went way in the night,” he said, referring to the production of the event and the fact that President Joe Biden was held up from delivering his planned speech until past prime time.

“I know this gets consumed differently. Nobody, most Americans aren’t staying up to watch a second, watch and snips and clips. But it was really just poorly produced. And I, you know, and I think that was a missed opportunity in a lot of places because, sweet baby James got bumped from the ticket last night, right? You had James Taylor there practicing,” Urban continued, referring to how singer-songwriter James Taylor’s performance was bumped for time.

“So, you know, I think that there wasn’t a lot of outreach to the Tim Walz part of the party. You know, if you’re a white working-class guy in Erie County, Pennsylvania, nothing spoke to you last night,” Urban noted.

“They weren’t going after those voters, the Tim Walz voters last night, it was geared towards, you know, specific – ” he contended, pointing out the various topics covered on the first night of the event.

“Very heavy on abortion. Right? Lots of women of color and women. So, you’re right, that my demographic was not the target last night,” Urban concluded. “And so I thought that was kind of interesting.”

Urban added a few fact-checks to the night, calling out the disinformation and lies such as once again connecting Trump to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.

“Project 2025 is not the blueprint for the Trump campaign. When the state senator stood there and said that, I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?'” Urban said, adding that it is the media’s responsibility to clarify when the candidate himself has “disavowed” claims.

Frieda Powers
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