James Carville responds to ‘vicious’ progressive Democrats trying to drive him out of the party

James Carville, the veteran Democratic strategist, has publicly mocked progressive critics who have suggested he leave the Democratic Party, underscoring deepening rifts between moderate and left-wing factions ahead of November's midterms. The exchange followed Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed's appearance on progressive streamer Hasan Piker's Twitch channel, where both men disparaged Carville, prompting him to sarcastically dismiss them as "vicious" on his own show. Senator Bernie Sanders then weighed in on CNN, telling Carville to "start his own party" if he did not want to share one with progressives.

Carville hit back by noting that Sanders sits in the Senate as an independent rather than a Democrat, and pointed to Sanders' two unsuccessful presidential nomination bids. El-Sayed, backed by Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, narrowly won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary and will face Republican Mike Rogers in November; despite the spat, Carville said he still expects El-Sayed to win. Carville also dismissed progressive ideas from Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong as products of an "AI random stupid idea generator." Fox News said it had contacted Sanders, El-Sayed's campaign, Hong's campaign and Piker for comment.