The Democrats have finally released the 2024 election autopsy report after months of pressure on the party chair Ken Martin.
The report details issued that haunted the Democratic Party in the most recent presidential election, including messaging issues, late organizing efforts, lack of alignment between the party’s super PAC and Kamala Harris’ campaign and other gaffes.
Martin came under fire within the party because he promised to release the report last year and then, in December, said he would not release the report.
Notable Democrats, such as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, had taken umbrage with Martin’s silence on the matter. Members of the DNC told NBC News that they were promised a summary from Martin, but then heard nothing.
On Thursday, Martin apologized and said that he didn’t feel the report was worthy of publication when he first received it.
“When I received the report late last year, it wasn’t ready for primetime – not even close – and because no source material was provided, it would have meant starting over,” he said. “I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on the report that was produced. After last November’s massive Democratic wins, I didn’t want to create a distraction, but by not putting the report out, I ended up creating an even bigger distraction. For that, I sincerely apologize,” he continued.
Martin released the report as it was received and noted that it is no edited or abridged, and does not meet his standards. He said he is releasing it because people need to trust the Democratic Party.
Later, Martin told DNC members on a call that the person who compiled the report, Paul Rivera, no longer works with the DNC “in any capacity.”
Liberal groups had been sending letters to DNC members over the past several weeks demanding that the report be released. Much to their chagrin, some found the report disappointing.
“This alleged autopsy is almost worthless. There’s not mention of the Biden/Harris administration’s Israel policy that abetted the Gaza massacre. That cost votes, and helped Trump win,” said Jeff Cohen, founder of RootsAction. He also mentioned Biden’s decision to run for a second term and Harris’ “lack of principles.”
The autopsy was reportedly delayed due, in part, to the DNC requesting an interview list and transcripts. Those were never received.
Although the report and its release has been surrounded in controversy, some staffers think that releasing the autopsy will allow Democrats to focus on midterms by removing distractions.
“I believe Ken did the right thing by releasing the report. Ken has decided to release the entire report in spite of the fact that it is not up to his standards or the DNC standards,” said Chris Korge, DNC finance chair. “We are literally a few months away from the midterm elections and this distraction needs to finally go away.” he added.
