Democratic presidential hopeful Steve BullockSteve BullockKoch-backed group launches ad campaign to support four vulnerable GOP senators Overnight Energy: US Park Police say ‘tear gas’ statements were ‘mistake’ | Trump to reopen area off New England coast for fishing | Vulnerable Republicans embrace green issues Vulnerable Republicans embrace green issues in battle to save seats MORE warned Wednesday that intraparty rifts within the crowded primary field threaten to undermine the party’s larger ambitions of defeating President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE in 2020.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the Montana governor recalled the explosive clashes between centrists and progressives that erupted during the second round of Democratic primary debates in Detroit last week.
ADVERTISEMENT
“As I stood on that debate stage last week and then listened to that next night, I saw [Trump’s] reelection becoming more likely with each passing minute,” Bullock said.
“Let me put it plainly: We cannot defeat Donald Trump’s politics of personal destruction if we practice the politics of self-destruction,” he added. “The fact is, we are well on our way to losing this election long before it ever really even is started.”
Tensions between competing factions of the Democratic Party have simmered in the presidential primary field for months. But they burst into public view last week as the candidates argued over their views on health care, immigration and criminal justice reform.
Click Here: Bape Kid 1st Camo Ape Head rompers
The debate also saw some candidates turn on the legacy of former President Obama, one of the Democratic Party’s most popular figures.
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio (D), for instance, repeatedly pressed former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE on what he did to curb immigrant deportations during the Obama administration. And Julián Castro, the Housing and Urban Development secretary under Obama, suggested that Biden had failed to acknowledge the shortcomings of the administration in which he served.
“It looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and one of us hasn’t,” Castro said, addressing Biden.
Trump himself addressed the intraparty clashes that broke out during the debates.
“The Democrats spent more time attacking Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaHarris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Five ways America would take a hard left under Joe Biden Valerie Jarrett: ‘Democracy depends upon having law enforcement’ MORE than they did attacking me, practically,” Trump told supporters at a rally in Cincinnati on Thursday.
Bullock, who has polled near the bottom of the pack of two dozen Democratic candidates, made his inaugural appearance in the presidential debates last week after he failed to qualify for the first round of primary debates in late June. He was the first to speak during the debates in Detroit and knocked “wish list economics” from progressives.