Vance says ‘left-wing extremism’ helped lead to Charlie Kirk’s killing

(WASHINGTON) — The Democrats are in a tough stretch. Their fundraising and voter registration lags Republicans. And polls show American voters find the party generally unfavorable.

But at this week’s Democratic National Committee summer meeting in Minneapolis, members are desperate to turn a page, shed a rudderless reputation, and more clearly define their platform as they look to deliver wins in upcoming governor’s races and the midterms next year.

In fact, at least a half dozen members who spoke to ABC News say that they are eager to start fighting back more aggressively against President Donald Trump and feel like some of the problems the party finds itself in is due to compounding factors, rather than the direct fault of Chair Ken Martin, who was elected in early February.

One of the ways Democrats believe they can get their footing back is leaning into the recent outrage around Republican efforts to pursue mid-decade redistricting and take a page out of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s playbook to give Trump a taste of his own rhetoric. Many members also believe they can resonate with voters as they push back against the impacts Trump’s spending and policy bill have on health care and costs.

“We all know that this is going to be an uphill battle. We all know that there’s tremendous challenges ahead, but we also know that the American people are not happy with the way things are turning out, and you see it in the polling,” said Maria Cardona, a member from Washington, D.C., who brushed off anxieties about Democrats in disarray as “b——t.”

“All of this internal b——t is exactly that — it’s b——t,” Cardona said.

This week’s meeting is the first major gathering of Martin’s tenure — and an early litmus test of his popularity and trust in his leadership, as his first few months have been mired in growing pains.

The DNC reported having around only $14 million cash on hand as of the end of July — far less than the Republican National Committee, which reported having $84.3 million cash on hand. The DNC also fundraised less than the RNC in July.

The news is better for Democrats’ official U.S. House campaign arm. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported having $40.4 million cash on hand by the end of July, while its GOP counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee, reported having $37.6 million cash on hand. The DCCC also outpaced the NRCC in fundraising in July.

Martin has faced increased scrutiny and criticism over infighting surrounding Gen Z activist David Hogg, who resigned from his role as vice chair after he promised to support primary challenges of incumbent Democrats he saw as complacent. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten also stepped away from the DNC in June, writing in her resignation letter she is “out of step” with new party leadership. Weingarten endorsed Martin’s most prominent chair challenger, Ben Wikler, the former Wisconsin Democratic Party chair.

When asked by ABC News about Democratic voter registration lagging as reported by The New York Times last week, Martin said the party has “work to do, for sure,” and pointed to the committee’s new organizing summer project, a volunteer training and voter registration initiative that sets to train Democrats to engage — and ideally convert voters — in non-political spaces in battleground areas and online as proof of concept.

“We’ve got to get back to registering voters — that’s what the DNC has already started this year with our summer organizing program. We are doing that with our state parties now,” Martin said during an event at the Minnesota State Fair.

Shasti Conrad, a DNC member from Washington state, said that grief over the election loss has permeated several conversations with fellow members, but has felt a recent energy shift, particularly after Texas House Democrats denied a quorum to delay the passage of new congressional district maps — which now await the signature of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

“When you lose an election like we did last year, you’re going to feel people’s rage, their sadness, their despair, all of that, and that is very much, has been what has been reverberating through every conversation that I’ve had,” Conrad said. “I think we’re all trying to move through this.”

Conrad continued: “We are starting to really get on solid footing, and that’s my hope with this meeting, is that we’ll be able to walk out of here feeling ‘Ok, we’re settled.'”

Conrad finds some of the handwringing about fundraising and voter registration “slightly overblown” and feels like the organization is in a solid place and has room to grow.

That doesn’t mean internal concerns have evaporated — but members feel concern is finally resulting in consensus.

“This is the crows coming home to roost. We’ve abandoned partisan voter registration for a very long time and it’s no surprise that we’re not only losing elections, but we’re also losing voters,” said progressive DNC member Michael Kapp from California. Kapp says he is “so happy” that Martin, in his view, is focused on righting the wrong.

Kapp said he believes it’s a “new day at the DNC” and that many members are frustrated with national Democratic top brass — like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — for not doing enough. He also suggested that some members are galvanized to be a more active resistance.

“I see anger. I see willingness to stand up and defend the communities that are being impacted by this administration. I see frustration that we can’t move fast enough, and I know that that’s a frustration that Chair Martin himself feels, but he’s working like crazy,” Kapp said.

“A number of members arrived concerned about the direction of the party, but the focus on unity and messaging has been well received,” North Dakota member Jamie Selzler said. Selzler added that while he expects conversations about the fundraising figures to keep coming up, “There’s a sense that standing up against Republican overreach over the next few years and winning in Virginia and New Jersey this year will be an important factor in proving we can fight back.”

Andre Treiber, a Texas DNC member and youth council chair, feels like the committee is nearing the end of a “rebuild phase.”

“This is going to be repouring the final cement,” Trieber said. “The Democratic Party definitely has a brand issue, and I think that is what so many people here this week care a lot about fixing.”

For John Verdejo, a DNC member from North Carolina, the next step for the party is to keep things simple — focus on core issues like affordability, for instance — and stop feeling sorry for yourself.

“We need to get our message straight,” said Verdejo, who stressed the party should keep things simple: focus on core issues like affordability, for instance.

Verdejo understands why some members of the party may be licking their wounds post-loss, but believes the complaining should wrap as the committee reaches a critical transition point. Internally, there’s a desire for more fighters, Verdejo said, which he does see reflected in Martin, who he and other Democrats who spoke to ABC maintain is broadly well-liked despite the early challenges of his tenure.

“We need to, we need to think differently, strategically, dirty even, take the gloves off. Never mind the polling, never mind what the stats say. Never mind what the numbers say … people want to see that fire in us. Let’s give it to them. This is life or death out here,” Verdejo added.

ABC’s Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Mike Johnson urged lawmakers “to turn the temperature down” on Capitol Hill following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“You will hear me, as I have always done, I’m trying to turn the temperature down around here. I always do that,” Johnson told reporters on Thursday.

An emotional Johnson said, “It still doesn’t feel real to me. Charlie Kirk was a good friend of mine.”

“I’ll continue to do what I’ve always tried to do here, especially in a moment like this. We have colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are in a different place this morning than they were yesterday. People have been shaken by this event,” he said.

Several rank-and-file Republicans, however, only doubled down on their unsubstantiated claims that Democrats “caused” Kirk’s killing.

Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a close friend of Kirk, told ABC News she stands by her fiery exchange on the House floor on Wednesday night, which culminated in the Florida congresswoman shouting to Democrats who opposed a second prayer for Kirk: “Y’all caused this.”

“They use their national platforms to say that we’re fascists, that we’re going to take away their rights, that were basically demons in office,” Luna said.

When asked by ABC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Jay O’Brien if blaming Democrats turned the temperature up and not down, Luna replied, “No, it’s accountability. It calls them out for that.”

Kirk, 31, was fatally shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. A manhunt is underway for the gunman. The motive of the shooter is unknown, but Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called the fatal shooting a “political assassination.”

Kirk’s murder sparked horror and condemnation from Republicans and Democrats.

But Luna dismissed the bipartisan response, and said she wouldn’t apologize for her comments on the House floor.

“What were the events leading up to this? What were the statements and rhetoric responsible? Every single person here knows that was the rhetoric that caused this. And I make no apologies for yesterday,” she said.

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace went even further, saying she was “absolutely” blaming Democrats for Kirk’s killing.

“This is what the left has done to brainwash people who are already mentally ill, already mentally fragile… This is about fighting for what’s right. I mean, all he did, all he used, were his words, and he was murdered for his words,” Mace said.

While several House Republicans were quick to point the finger at Democrats, without fully knowing the shooter’s motive and noticeably omitting recent attacks on Democrats such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and the killing of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman, not all GOP lawmakers joined in.

“Everybody’s emotions are high. I’m not going to point the fingers at either party. Both parties have some guilt,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, told ABC News. “So hopefully we can, we can take a tragedy like this and try to all do better. And I think we can all do better — myself included.”

Members on both sides of the aisle reiterated concerns for their personal safety. Mace, currently running for governor of South Carolina, said she won’t be doing public events until “we have a better handle on greater security controls.”

“We always overreact. We need to react prior. Leadership is woefully ill-prepared,” Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett told reporters. He added that he’s afraid something “really bad is going to happen before we get something done up here.”

“Heck no,” Burchett said when asked if he feels safe on Capitol Hill.

On the other side of the aisle, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in floor remarks on Thursday condemned Charlie Kirk’s murder as “heinous” and “cowardly” and called for an end to political violence.

Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, also said that “finger-pointing” would not help cool tensions in the country.

“There should be no finger-pointing because this is an attack on our democracy itself. And if we fail to quell those fires, our democracy will be doomed. We should disagree. We can disagree with our ideas, but not with weapons and bloodshed and killing,” Schumer said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Gathered on the Senate floor after a 26-hour, record-breaking vote-a-rama series, senators voted hastily on two final Republican-led amendments before getting to the main event: final passage of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

Vice President JD Vance was presiding over the chamber after breaking a tie on a previously considered wraparound amendment to the bill. It was assumed that he would soon break another tie on the bill’s final passage, with a number of Republican holdouts remaining to make the vote math still uncertain.

It was just a matter of who would be the third “no” vote Republicans could afford to lose and still pass the bill. Sens. Thom Tillis and Rand Paul had already committed to voting it down.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski was widely thought to be the last opponent, with a temporary SNAP carveout for her state of Alaska hanging in the balance down until the last minute.

When the final vote started, Murkowski was seated in the second row near the middle of the chamber. Next to her was Mississippi GOP Sen. Roger Wicker and next to him was another moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who eventually proved to be the third and final GOP “no” vote.

Collins, dressed in a hot-pink pantsuit, votes near the top of the alphabet. But she left near the beginning of the vote’s final passage to go to the cloakroom. She missed her chance to vote when her name was called, coming out shortly after and walking directly to Murkowski. Collins put her arm around Murkowski, and then went up to the clerk and put her thumb down: no. She then left the chamber.

Focus was then squarely on Murkowski, whose vote could have tanked the entire bill. But former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell came up to sit next to her. The two talked quietly and then shook hands. When her name was called, Murkowski quietly said “Aye.”

Senators had added additional sweeteners for her state, including a provision aimed at insulating Alaska from some of the bill’s harshest impacts on SNAP.

She then started to leave the chamber, shaking hands with GOP Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana before exiting.

Afterward, Murkowski told ABC News’ she “struggled mightily with the [bill’s] impact on the most vulnerable in this country.”

“I needed help, and I worked to get that every single day. And did I get everything that I wanted? Absolutely not,” she added.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn’t speak to either woman after their votes. He was seated in his chair in the front of the chamber.

Collins later explained her vote in a statement: “My vote against this bill stems primarily from the harmful impact it will have on Medicaid, affecting low-income families and rural health care providers like our hospitals and nursing homes.”

She also said she had problems with cuts to energy tax credits and that the rural hospital relief fund that was created to try to get Republican holdouts to vote for the bill was insufficient.

ABC News’ John Parkinson and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.

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