Democrats really deserve an award for lack of self-awareness. At their big summer meeting in Minneapolis, newly minted DNC Chair Ken Martin practically shouted himself hoarse about how his party is supposedly too soft, too rule-abiding, too hesitant to fight back against Donald Trump and the GOP. He even said he’s “sick” of Democrats “bringing a pencil to a knife fight.” You could practically hear the self-pity dripping into his microphone. But let’s pause here. A pencil? Really?
This is from the party that’s spent the past several years trying to lock Donald Trump behind bars, remove him from the 2024 ballot, and drag him and his allies through courtroom after courtroom. If that’s a pencil, I’d hate to see the Democrats take the gloves off.
The reality is that Trump has endured more assaults from Democrats than any candidate or president in modern history. I used to think the way Democrats treated President George W. Bush was bad. Those were kid gloves by comparison.
Think about it. Democrats impeached Trump twice. They launched endless investigations into his businesses, his tax returns, his staff, and his supporters. They cheered on prosecutors who turned the criminal justice system into a campaign arm of the DNC. They even launched a nationwide campaign to remove him from state ballots before the 2024 election.
But now, after all of that, Martin wants the party faithful to believe they haven’t been fighting hard enough? Give me a break. What more does he want, gulags?
Maybe I shouldn't give him ideas.
DNC Chair Ken Martin: "I'm sick and tired of the Democrat party bringing a pencil to a knife fight. We cannot be the only party that plays by the rules anymore! We've got to stand up and fight! We're not going to have a hand tied behind our back anymore!" pic.twitter.com/QYEkDxW26f
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 25, 2025
The irony here is staggering. Democrats did everything in their power to “get” Trump, and it blew up in their faces. Not only did Trump crush Kamala Harris in 2024, but the Democrats’ approval ratings have since cratered to historic lows. Personally, I think Ken Martin is saying what he needs to say to keep his job. Ken Martin’s tenure as DNC chair has been a dumpster fire. Between bad polling for the Democrats, party infighting, and fundraising problems, there have been whispers that his tenure as DNC chair may be short-lived, so he’s going full tinfoil-hat nuts.
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In addition to complaining that Democrats aren’t fighting hard enough, he’s using all the kind of rhetoric that the radical base wants to hear, including calling this country fascist.
“What we’re seeing right now is just a full-on attempt by this authoritarian regime to march us toward full-on fascism, and we have to stand up right now in this moment as Democrats,” Martin said last week on MSNBC. “My job is to call it like it is, and what we’re seeing right now out of this administration is a cover-up at every step of the way. Donald Trump’s trying to avoid any accountability as it relates to Epstein, of course.”
So no, Democrats aren’t “bringing a pencil to a knife fight.” They’ve thrown the whole kitchen sink at Trump — impeachments, indictments, ballot bans — and he’s still standing, stronger than ever. What Martin is really saying is that he needs to scare his base into thinking that America is teetering on fascism so that he won’t be the fall guy for his party’s failures.
