Democratic Chief Deputy Whip Dan Kildee pushed back Saturday against calls for more partisanship by some on the House Democrats’ side.
The Michigan representative, hailed by many Republican lawmakers as one of the most bipartisan Democrats in the House, urged his caucus to focus on policy and substance rather than taking jabs at the minority. He also warned his fellow Democrats against attempts by one faction of the party to hijack another, saying “we have a diverse party, lots of points of view and I think that’s fine.”
The firebrand New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., made more waves on Friday when she threatened to put up primary challengers to Democrats who vote with the Republicans. The rhetoric comes on the heels of some prominent Democrats wanting to modify an important legislative motion that gives the minority party some leverage on important legislation.
“I don’t think it’s productive, however, for Democrats in one district to interfere with the politics, or the voting decisions, or the choices, that are made by Democrats coming from other districts,” Kildee told Fox News host Neil Cavuto. “We have a diverse party, lots of different points of view.”
The majority lawmaker also emphasized that there isn’t any one single face of the Democratic Party and downplayed some the hype that the newcomers have garnered since their election.
“I don’t think any one member of our caucus is the face of the party. I’m the face of the party for the people of the Fifth District of Michigan. We all have interest in what other members say, but we have diverse views but especially with these new members,” Kildee said, in a thinly veiled reminder to the progressive wing of the party. “I think it’s a bit of a misunderstanding of the makeup of the new democratic majority.”
“There are some really progressive voices, and certainly, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of those,” he said. “But there are also lots of really interesting new members who come with a national security background, for example, lots of military veterans comprised our new majority, so no one person can say they are the face of our party.”
