Murphy on Meet the Press: The Democratic Party Should Be a Big Tent Party Focused On Common Good Capitalism

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Sunday joined Meet the Press with Ryan Nobles to discuss the future of the Democratic Party. Murphy argued voters want the party to be bolder in taking on concentrated corporate power and creating a "common good capitalism" that restores power to workers.

Murphy contended that Tuesday's primary election results in New York City are further proof that voters are not satisfied with the status quo: "I think that it's actually a sign of a party that is alive and growing when there's a contest of ideas inside the party. So I'm not a Democratic Socialist, but I do believe that the Democratic Party has been historically way too timid in taking on corporate power. I think our party should have bigger ideas. I put one on the table last week - a $25 minimum wage. And I think we do have to have answers for the way in which corporations and billionaires are taking over and corrupting our politics. So I do think that there is somewhat of a trend that candidates who are confronting concentrated corporate power in a meaningful way are winning. And I think that that is something that the Democratic Party should pay attention to."

Pushing back on the notion that the only economic options are the current version of American capitalism or socialism, Murphy argued for bold reforms to unrig our economy: "I think we have to understand that people do not believe that this version of capitalism has worked. And frankly, it hasn't worked. I mean, you have 40% of Americans today that are working full time and don't have enough money saved up in the bank for an emergency car repair. Meanwhile, we just saw the first trillionaire made in this economy. This version of capitalism isn't working. Now, I make the argument in the book that we should embrace what I call a 'common good capitalism, a capitalism where we have more shared prosperity, where we want more millionaires and less trillionaires, where we have a higher minimum wage, where unions are more powerful. Democrats are not going to win by defending this version of capitalism. But I think we'll be able to offer ideas on how to dramatically reform it rather than throwing out the entire system."

Murphy explained why he believes Democrats should become a big tent party focused on rightsizing an unfair economy: "The argument that I make is that there are a lot of Trump voters who believe that the economy is rigged, and they mistakenly thought that Donald Trump was going to unrig it. They now see him as a fake populist. And so they're open to listen to a Democratic Party that is for increasing the minimum wage, breaking up concentrated corporate power, bringing back the strength of labor unions. Now, I think we have been probably far too judgmental of some of these voters on the right, because they don't share all of our cultural and social views. I don't argue that the Democratic Party should change our views when it comes to issues like guns or climate or abortion, I just think that we have to accept into the coalition people that may have voted for Donald Trump and want a party that is going to unrig the democracy, but may not be ready to join us on all of our social and cultural views. We should give them a place in our party."

Murphy pointed to his new legislation to raise the minimum wage to $25/hour as the type of policy that can bring Trump supporters back to the Democratic party: "If you ask Democrats in an open survey what they think the minimum wage should be, they say $27. If you ask Republicans, independents, they say $26. You know why? $25 is just the minimum wage you need to pay your bills in this country and in the most affluent, most powerful country in the world, if you work full time, you should be able to pay your bills. And by the way, we can afford it. It's not like we can't pay a $25 minimum wage. We just choose not to because we've become okay with dozens and dozens of people in this country making hundreds of billions of dollars. So this is the kind of idea that shows that the Democratic Party is ready to fundamentally change this economy. And I think this is the kind of idea that brings Trump voters over."

A full transcript of the interview is below:

Ryan Nobles: And joining me now is Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. He's the author of the new book, Crisis of the Common Good. Senator Murphy, welcome back to Meet the Press.

Senator Chris Murphy: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Nobles: Let's first off, start with your reaction to the latest primary results out of New York. You've heard President Trump say that these candidates are socialists. He's gone as far as to call them communists. As someone who identifies as a progressive, is this a moment of reckoning for establishment Democrats?

Murphy: Well, I think you're going to have different candidates being nominated in New York City and suburban Connecticut. This is a party that has also nominated and won with candidates like Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill. I want us to be a big tent party. I mean, I've been saying this for years. I think that it's actually a sign of a party that is alive and growing when there's a contest of ideas inside the party. So I'm not a Democratic Socialist, but I do believe that the Democratic Party has been historically way too timid in taking on corporate power. I think our party should have bigger ideas. I put one on the table last week - a $25 minimum wage. And I think we do have to have answers for the way in which corporations and billionaires are taking over and corrupting our politics. So I do think that there is somewhat of a trend that candidates who are confronting concentrated corporate power in a meaningful way are winning. And I think that that is something that the Democratic Party should pay attention to.

Nobles: Well, there's a lot of polling that shows that the rise of socialism is becoming a big part of the Democratic base. In fact, over two thirds of Democrats view socialism more positively than capitalism. Does the Democratic Party actually need to embrace the moniker of socialism? Lean into it.

Murphy: No, but I think we have to understand that people do not believe that this version of capitalism has worked. And frankly, it hasn't worked. I mean, you have 40% of Americans today that are working full time and don't have enough money saved up in the bank for an emergency car repair. Meanwhile, we just saw the first trillionaire made in this economy. This version of capitalism isn't working. Now, I make the argument in the book that we should embrace what I call a "common good capitalism", a capitalism where we have more shared prosperity, where we want more millionaires and less trillionaires, where we have a higher minimum wage, where unions are more powerful. Democrats are not going to win by defending this version of capitalism. But I think we'll be able to offer ideas on how to dramatically reform it rather than throwing out the entire system.

Nobles: Well, let's talk about one of those candidates who won on Tuesday who describes herself as a socialist, and that's Darializa Avila Chevalier. She's faced criticism now over deleted social media posts. I want you to take a listen to this attack ad from her former opponent…So to be clear, Senator, that was an attack ad from a fellow Democrat. You've talked about this bigger tent. If you're saying the Democratic Party needs a bigger tent, does that include someone who called a former Democratic president of the United States a rapist?

Murphy: I mean, I'm not super familiar with that race. All I'm saying is that this party has to have a real contest of ideas. And I just don't think that our defense of incrementalism has worked. So I don't mind a contest of ideas. And I just don't know that we have had it to the extent that voters have been satisfied. Listen, it's no secret voters aren't super happy with establishment Democrats or establishment Republicans these days. I will say, though, what binds together, I think every Democratic candidate that is running, including the ones in New York, is that they are standing up to protect American democracy. And right now, the biggest threat to this country is not a handful of House candidates in New York. It is the president of the United States that is trying to destroy American democracy. And the Democratic Party - left, right and center - is united around the fact that we need to protect this nation from Donald Trump's attacks on the rule of law.

Nobles: Okay. To that end, I do want to read to you a part from your latest book, Crisis of the Common Good. You say that, "Many leading Democrats, and even more in the pundit class, treat populist leaders like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Zohran Mamdani as fringe threats to the party's electoral success. Voters chose Trump because they wanted a revolution. But my party doesn't yet seem completely ready to seize the moment." How do you seize the energy of the left wing of the party without alienating mainstream voters, and maybe even some Trump voters that might be willing to cross over and vote for Democrats?

Murphy: Yeah. The argument that I make is that there are a lot of Trump voters who believe that the economy is rigged, and they mistakenly thought that Donald Trump was going to unrig it. They now see him as a fake populist. And so they're open to listen to a Democratic Party that is for increasing the minimum wage, breaking up concentrated corporate power, bringing back the strength of labor unions. Now, I think we have been probably far too judgmental of some of these voters on the right, because they don't share all of our cultural and social views. I don't argue that the Democratic Party should change our views when it comes to issues like guns or climate or abortion, I just think that we have to accept into the coalition people that may have voted for Donald Trump and want a party that is going to unrig the democracy, but may not be ready to join us on all of our social and cultural views. We should give them a place in our party.

And I think the only way that we give them that place is by being stronger in the way that we confront the consolidation of corporate power in this country.

Nobles: Okay, let's zero in on that topic that you raised earlier, and that is your new bill to raise the minimum wage. You are calling for a minimum wage of $25 an hour. It has not been raised nationally above $7.25 an hour since 2009. The most recent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office said that even a $17 per hour raise would result in massive job cuts. Would your bill actually do more harm than good?

Murphy: No, it wouldn't, and there's plenty of economic analysis to show that if you gradually raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour, you're going to create more jobs than you're going to lose. And my bill doesn't do it automatically. But this is actually a unifying issue. And so when I talk about how you bring Republicans who voted for Trump over to the Democratic side, an aggressive increase in the minimum wage is part of the answer. If you ask Democrats in an open survey what they think the minimum wage should be, they say $27. If you ask Republicans, independents, they say $26. You know why? $25 is just the minimum wage you need to pay your bills in this country and in the most affluent, most powerful country in the world, if you work full time, you should be able to pay your bills. And by the way, we can afford it. It's not like we can't pay a $25 minimum wage. We just choose not to because we've become okay with dozens and dozens of people in this country making hundreds of billions of dollars. So this is the kind of idea that shows that the Democratic Party is ready to fundamentally change this economy. And I think this is the kind of idea that brings Trump voters over. Remember, there was a meme online about a year ago in which folks were claiming to the right that Donald Trump had already implemented a $25 minimum wage, and people in his coalition were super pumped about that. We can't let Donald Trump pretend that he's actually going to raise wages. But we've got to show that the Democratic Party, if we get power, is really willing to do it.

Nobles: So on the issue of affordability, there was a bipartisan housing bill that passed both chambers of Congress, but it's currently stalled after President Trump said that he won't sign the bill until the SAVE Act is passed. One of the elements of the SAVE Act requires voters to show ID. If there was a vote that came to the floor that just required voters to show photo ID, would you support it?

Murphy: Well, I mean, it depends on what that looks like. In Connecticut, you know, we have safe and secure elections. This whole idea behind the SAVE Act is trying to push a mythology that our elections aren't secure, are rigged. That's not true. The problem with the SAVE Act is that they don't really care about the voter ID provision. That's not why they're pushing the SAVE Act. They care about a provision that would create a national voter list, that would allow Trump to go in and take people out of it, so he could claim that the wrong people voted in state elections. It's actually why a lot of Republicans in the Senate don't support the SAVE Act. Donald Trump is the most unpopular president in the recent history of this country. And so he is trying to rig the election in part by creating this national…

Nobles: Senator. If I could just, if I could pin you down on that, though. Do you think establishing a standard by which a photo ID is necessary to vote in elections is something that should exist in the United States? Just that simple premise.

Murphy: Yeah. I think there are a lot of people in my state that don't have that ID, and there is no evidence, no evidence, zero evidence in this country that there is a problem at scale with people faking their identification in elections. And again, let's just dispense with the idea that that's what this bill is about. That's not what this bill is about. This bill is about trying to create a national voter list that creates the pretext for Donald Trump to try to say that state elections have been rigged or manipulated.

Nobles: Okay, Senator Murphy, we're going to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

Murphy: Thank you.