DCCC Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney: ‘We Have a Likability Problem’

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 16: U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) (C) pauses prior to a bill
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House Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) says the Democrats “have a likability problem.”

During an interview with the New York Times editorial board, Maloney was asked if he saw any issues where elected Democrat officials are “out of sync” and “out of step” with voters. In a lengthy back-and-forth response with the editorial board, he appeared to reason that “[Democrats] have a likability problem.”

The congressman questioned, “if our positions and our policies are so popular, why don’t they like us more?”

He stated that the main consensus between “conservative Democrats” and far-left Democrats is that they all have a “likability problem” with the voters.

President Joe Biden kisses House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California during an Affordable Care Act event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

“We move really fast and we are really passionate about the solutions we want to bring. And we sometimes don’t give people enough time to understand what we’re doing and to bring them along,” he further explained, adding that sometimes the lawmakers do not always ask, “what are the priorities of the people we represent?”

In fact, when looking for examples to give, he stated, “Democrats could be much more intentional about our work in rural areas, with veterans, with farmers, with people in communities that have not benefited from the global economy.”

“We could talk like human beings, we could build a relationship with voters. We could be more comfortable on the factory floor — or at least as comfortable on the factory floor as we are in the faculty lounge, if it can sound that way,” he continued.

Additionally, he said, “Most of the voters that we ask about this think that we’re out of touch, they think we’re elitist, we think we are better than they are. And they don’t like it … And we have a likability problem.”

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.

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