Former DNC Vice Chair Likens Democratic Party to ‘Headless Chicken,’ Calls ‘Big Tent’ Rhetoric Hollow

David Hogg, the former Democratic National Committee vice chair and founder of the political action committee (PAC) Leaders We Deserve, accused the party of having no leader or clear vision for the country ahead of the 2028 presidential election.

“It feels a little bit like we’re a headless chicken, kind of just running around, like, crazy,” Hogg said on May 20 on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” when asked who is leading the party ahead of 2028.

Hogg said Democratic messaging has focused on opposition to President Donald Trump rather than offering effective alternatives.

“What I really can’t stand is, it feels like we still have not articulated a vision for the future of the country post Donald Trump,” Hogg said.

“That’s not leadership. That is not a vision for the future of the country.”

Hogg went on to describe the type of Democrat he sees as being able to win the presidency in 2028 as someone who “understands that the biggest division” in the country “is not between left and right” but “top versus bottom.”

He said he would like to see a candidate who says the Democratic Party will not “sell out” to special interests, doesn’t take corporate money, and shows that the party actually does “stand for them.”

“Even if you don’t fully agree with us on whatever it might be, at least you can know there was a party in Washington that is doing everything in its power not to sell you out,” Hogg said. “And I think the person that has that message … has the best chance of being able to win the presidency.”

Hogg said he believed that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) fits that description—pointing to her running for Congress initially against a strong Democratic incumbent and not taking corporate money.

“I think the person that says that with the most conviction, and really that people believe the most, is going to stand the best chance, because people are really hurting in this country,” Hogg said. “They are sick and tired of feeling like their needs are not being met by the people that work on Capitol Hill every day as they see the rich get richer and corporations make more profits.”

Hogg said that the party’s “big tent” rhetoric is hollow and that Democratic leaders try to reach a broad ideological coalition while rejecting candidates who are further left.

“In our party, we have this tendency to say, you know, we really need to be a big tent,” Hogg said. “But just not too far to the left.”

He pointed to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America. Hogg said Mamdani drew strong support from young voters in his 2025 mayoral run but was the kind of candidate from whom party leaders publicly distanced themselves.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) endorsed Mamdani shortly before the election, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did not endorse him during the race.

Several congressional Democrats from New York did not weigh in on the race or attempted to distance themselves from Mamdani’s policies during his campaign. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said he had “profound disagreements” with Mamdani, while Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) said Mamdani was a “bad example.”

Since his election, Mamdani has largely been embraced by the party, although many remain skeptical that a far-left candidate has a chance outside of New York City or nationally.

Third Way—a Democrat-aligned moderate think tank—urged the party after his election to stick with more moderately identified candidates, such as New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger. The group warned that the party faced “renewal or ruin” depending on whether it followed a centrist model or embraced a national version of Mamdani’s left-wing strategy.

Hogg founded Leaders We Deserve in 2023 with Kevin Lata, the former campaign manager for Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.). The PAC supports Democrats under 35 running for state legislative seats and under 45 running for Congress, and it rejects candidates who accept corporate PAC money.

Hogg won a DNC vice chair seat last year but stepped aside after party leadership moved to rerun the election following his pledge to use Leaders We Deserve to challenge sitting Democratic incumbents in safe blue districts. The DNC cited a procedural issue related to gender balance among officers. Hogg said on May 20 that he chose not to seek reelection rather than fight the rerun.

The Democratic National Committee did not respond by publication time to a request for comment by The Epoch Times.

The argument over the party’s ideological direction has played out across recent Democratic primaries. Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, won the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s Third Congressional District on May 19.

If Rabb wins the November general election, he will become the second member of the U.S. House nationally endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America.