NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- James Carville is the first to admit that the Democrats messed things up -- a lot of things, and in a big way, in fact -- in their quest to keep the White House.
Whether it was the focus by some in the party on identity politics or how and when vice president Kamala Harris was rolled out as the presidential candidate, the longtime Democratic strategist -- who famously worked on Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign -- was unabashed in an interview with 1010 WINS calling out the party's mistakes (and wins) from the past election.
Watch or listen to the entire interview below:
And it's these sentiments that Carville addresses in the CNN Films documentary "Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid," by director Matt Tyrnauer, which debuted at the Telluride Film Festival. The film chronicles 18 months inside the election from Carville's perspective. (The film is available on Max, among other streaming services. Greenwich Entertainment released the film in select theaters earlier this year.)
Still, the 80-year-old Louisiana native -- who told WINS, "I'm not a moderate Democrat, I'm a liberal Democrat" -- said that he hasn't lost faith in the Democratic party and that it definitely has a future.
In fact, he says, just look at the 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial race.
"I really want to make a point about the future of the Democratic Party ... I am wildly optimistic, and you say, 'come on, how could you be optimistic and be a Democrat? We lost all seven swing states. We lost the Senate. We didn't get the House back," Carville told WINS. "So what is the best way to determine the strength of a political party? I would tell you that its real strength lies in its prospective candidates and the members of the party that are likely to take a leadership or a more visible role ... I've never seen political talent that exists at the level that the current Democratic party has."
And who are those Democratic stars? Look no further than the current crop of the Garden State's gubernatorial hopefuls, Carville told WINS. That group includes Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Mikie Sherrll, Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop, Newark mayor Ras Baraka, and former Senate President Steve Sweeney.
"Look up the 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial race and look at the Democrats who are running," Carville, who is famously married to Republican strategist Mary Matalin. "I mean, they're stunningly competent people with real, real resumes -- in one state, in one party."
He added, "Just look it up and then you tell me that this is a political party that doesn't have a future. It does, it has one. We got to get these people out there."
He even went as far to say, "There's an embarrassment of riches. Our field in 2028 is just going to blow people away."
But Carville isn't a fan of all high-profile tri-state Democrats. Case in point: Mayor Eric Adams.
"I saw he's considering switching to a Republican," Carville said of Adams, who raised eyebrows recently when he said he's "proposing" to run as a Democrat in the upcoming mayoral race, as opposed to firmly saying he would.
Carville's message to Adams, who was charged in September with bribery and campaign finance offenses? "Please do. You'll fit right in. You'll be much, much more comfortable over there that than with us. That's a great idea. I really think that you should."
"Well, an indictment is just an indictment, but I mean clubbing every night ... He's playing for a pardon. I just think he fits in better over there. He should do that. He'd be more comfortable there. I really believe that. And we would be more comfortable having you there."
And in a nod to what prosecutors allege, Carvile said, "He was a policeman and he might have genuinely been law and order but at least from what we know, maybe the law and order didn't apply to him."
In terms of his thoughts of President-elect Donald Trump, he doesn't hold back, telling WINS, "I have Trump Derangement Syndrome. I'm very proud. It's a disease that I'm very proud of that I don't want to get rid of it. I can't stand him. And I don't think, in my own opinion, that he's loyal to the United States or to anything that it stands for. Anything that the United States is about and the people that say this may be to end may be right, but I'm going to plan like there is going to be another election."
And looking back at President Joe Biden's legacy, he told WINS, "He is an honest man. He is literally one of the most tolerant people I know. And he had a great legacy. Unfortunately, very unfortunately, he's the most tragic figure in politics in my lifetime because he will be forever -- well, not forever, but for a long time -- he will be viewed as the guy who was so selfish, he wouldn't give up power and it cost not only his political party and the presidency, but a person on the level of Donald Trump to be president. And I don't think he's going to escape that for a long time to come. I really don't. And I think the party engaged in extreme cowardness that they let this go on. If he would've gotten out in the summer of 2023, we'd have gotten 54% of the vote."
