Latest news with #ChuckRocha
Fox News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
CNN panel rips 'partisans' for hijacking Texas flood tragedy for political gain
A Tuesday morning CNN panel agreed that "partisan" actors are making the Texas flood tragedy too political. Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, NOTUS reporter Evan McMorris-Santoro, and former Bush administration official Ashley Davis agreed that there are many people trying to make political hay out of the recent tragedy rather than come together or find out how to prevent future tragedies. "There is a huge movement of people who jump onto everything and try to make it some kind of political lens immediately," McMorris Santoro told CNN anchor Audie Cornish. "It's very different than talking about doing actual journalism of what things didn't happen, you know, who weren't where they were supposed to be, who didn't have the money that they needed to have." More than 100 people, including children and counselors at a girls' camp, were killed in central Texas in flash flooding that began last week. The National Weather Service (NWS) sent several flash flood warnings early Friday morning, followed by several flash flood emergency notices. However, critics of President Donald Trump alleged that his federal staffing and budget cuts prevented the NWS from being adequately prepared for the disaster. The finger-pointing prompted debate on social media and among some lawmakers about which political side was to blame for the disaster. The CNN panel, however, dismissed this as petty squabbling that distracted from the tragedy. Rocha gave his opinion on the partisan back-and-forth, suggesting it gets in the way of people trying to recognize and solve the actual problems that added to the death and destruction. "And everybody looks back and like, 'What can we do?' And partisans like me and others, we like to throw mud at each other, and say, 'It's your fault. It's your fault.' But there's real things at risk here. And things that I think could have been done. And I think there will be a reckoning when it's over because of the mass loss of children." Rocha added a suggestion that authorities come up with a system like AMBER Alert – which rapidly alerts a local community via text when a child goes missing – for natural disasters like this one. Davis contrasted the different reactions to the tragedy shown by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Schumer demanded an investigation into various vacancies within NWS in Texas related to warning coordination, suggesting Trump staff and budget cuts were to blame. "These are the experts responsible for modeling storm impacts, monitoring rising water levels, issuing flood warnings, and coordinating directly with local emergency managers about when to warn the public and issue evacuation orders," Schumer said, speaking of the vacant roles. During "The View" on Monday, Jeffries reflected on the "dozens" who will have to bury their children following the flooding and declared, "We should never play politics ever. Not play politics with the wildfires, not play politics with these floods, and get the American people the relief they need and deserve." Davis praised Jeffries' response. "The thing about what Schumer said – which I just was surprised – it was a little early," the former Bush official said. "There's going to be investigations into this just because of the horrible loss, and I just can't imagine what they are dealing with… Jeffries came out and just said, let's just have a pause and let's grieve right now, and let's not make this political. And it's just too devastating."
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Democrats might be ‘overthinking' strategy to recapture voters
Democrats are rethinking ways to recapture voters they've lost to President Trump in recent election cycles, and they may have been offered an important lesson in the New York mayoral primary. In various post-mortems and focus groups done on the heels of their devastating 2024 election loss, Democrats have thoroughly examined exit polls and voter demographics in search of the gaps in their party's appeal. But Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, who served as a senior adviser on Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) presidential campaign in 2020, said Democrats are 'overthinking' the solution by analyzing the voters who flipped sides or skipped voting during the last election. 'It's more simple than that,' Rocha said. 'Just concentrate on people who are frustrated as hell and get both of them.' Rocha pointed to the New York mayoral race as proof. He says progressive upstart-turned-party nominee Zohran Mamdani (D) was able to capture voters — including those who did not vote a few months ago in the presidential election — by talking about affordability and other tangible economic issues that appealed to them. Rocha said voters 'want anything that's different' from the status quo when it comes to the cost of living. 'It shows how desperate people are,' he said. While many Democrats disagree with Mamdani's politics, they say the campaign he ran shows the unwavering preeminence of economic issues. And Trump taught the same lesson in 2024, political observers say, by telling voters what they wanted to hear on the economy and his message on 'draining the swamp.' 'Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani just showed, in very different elections, that economic issues are still king — and that you can appeal to a wide, bipartisan swath of voters by saying you'll bring down the cost of living,' said Democratic strategist Christy Setzer. 'Working-class voters have been drifting away from the Democratic Party on so-called 'cultural' issues for a long time, but they're still very gettable through a clear message and from a compelling messenger.' According to exit polls, Democrats in 2024 lost significant ground with middle-class voters, a cornerstone of their traditional base, down 10 percentage points from 2020. At the same time, there is a decreasing sense of strong party leadership and little optimism about the party's future, respective CNN/SSRS and AP/NORC polling out in May revealed. But Mamdani, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, took aim at the Democratic establishment, calling for draining the swamp to make room for change. It was an echo of Trump's messaging in his 2024 campaign. 'Donald Trump was successful because … he wasn't afraid to be against and call out people in his own party and other parties,' said Susan Del Percio, a longtime New York-based Republican strategist who does not support Trump. 'Mamdani was the exact same. He was calling out everybody, and then that's when you get to act with no fear.' Mamandi strayed from the Democratic establishment with a clear message of affordability and came out on top in a crowded and competitive primary. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani's only serious competition, ran on a message of protecting New York City from Trump. But the New York City electorate is drastically different from the rest of the country, political observers say, noting someone like Mamdani may not appeal to moderates and centrists. 'Being a self-proclaimed democratic socialist … doesn't play in swing districts. It plays in New York City primaries,' Del Percio said. 'The Democratic candidates have to look more like Elissa Slotkin talking about the cost of living than they do Mamdani talking about the cost of living.' Realizing they need to do more to appeal to the middle class, Democrats across the country have begun to put forward plans and back legislation to regain lost ground. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) recently came out with her 'Economic War Plan,' the goals of which, she has said, are to reconnect the Democratic Party with the middle class. At the same time, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) signed a bill this week overhauling California's environmental protection laws to accelerate much-needed housing construction in the state. In the name of bringing down the cost of living, Newsom's move goes against a history of California Democrats unconditionally defending the state's environmental protection laws. But the New York race gave some Democrats an injection of hope that their party was starting to turn things around after the crushing loss last year. 'We have proof now, and the proof is the NYC mayor's race,' Rocha said. Mamdani won 'the same precincts in New York City where Donald Trump overperformed in the general election,' he explained. Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons said while not every voter is gettable, 'a lot of them are,' and he said some of the people who supported Trump are Democrats who simply found Trump's message more compelling than the Democratic ticket in the 2024 race. 'Voters are not captive to any political party,' Simmons added. 'They have agency. They get to make their own choices, and if politicians aren't speaking to them, they'll look elsewhere.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Democratic strategist warns his party that LA riots are playing into Trump's hands
Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha lamented how the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles are playing right into President Donald Trump's hands on Tuesday. Rocha, a Mexican-American and frequent CNN pundit, rebuked liberals protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles during "CNN This Morning." He said that their demonstrations have gotten out of hand and are serving Trump. "If this was about Immigration, and we were talking about how the system is broken and what ICE is doing right now, this protest would be warranted if it was doing that. But what this plays into – and listen to me, Democrats – right into Donald Trump's hand[s]," he declared. ICE agents carried out operations at businesses across Los Angeles on Friday, sparking protests and clashes outside multiple locations. The next several days saw unrest and violent confrontations between anti-ICE rioters and law enforcement, while the Department of Homeland Security urged California state leaders to "call off their rioting mob." A DHS statement put out Saturday read, "Last night, over 1,000 rioters surrounded a federal law enforcement building and assaulted ICE law enforcement officers, slashed tires, defaced buildings, and taxpayer funded property. It took the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) 2 hours to respond." In response to the escalating chaos, Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles. Later, he also ordered 700 U.S. Marines into the city to restore order. Rocha admitted that the chaos was a bad look for Democrats and played directly to the strengths of Trump, who campaigned successfully on border security. He told CNN anchor Audie Cornish, "In the last election, Audie, the Republicans spent $800 million telling the American public that we were being invaded by immigrants from other countries. They made it the central theme of their campaign. This checks all the marks of what Donald Trump wants to be talking about, which is immigration, protest, cops being beat, folks burning cars." Rocha added the riots also distract from some of the president's weaker policy areas. "This is the chaos that he loves because, guess what we're not talking about? We're not talking about the 'big, beautiful bill.' We're not talking about 13 million people being kicked off of healthcare," he said. "We're not talking about anything in Washington. We're talking about the sweetest spot of all of his issue sets, which is immigration, law and order and Los Angeles." "And when you throw in Gavin Newsom, it's just the cherry on top for this administration," he added, referring to the California governor and likely 2028 presidential contender. Newsom has blasted Trump for sending in the Marines, writing on X, "U.S. Marines have served honorably across multiple wars in defense of democracy. They are heroes. They shouldn't be deployed on American soil facing their own countrymen to fulfill the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial President. This is un-American."
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
High court ruling on reverse discrimination a no-brainer: Chuck Rocha
(NewsNation) — The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected legal precedent that people in a majority group have a higher standard for proving discrimination. Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha agrees with the high court decision. 'Discrimination doesn't say, 'Oh, you have to be black,' or, 'You have to be a woman,' or, 'You have to be gay.' … Discrimination means you're treating me different,' he says on 'CUOMO.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Where's the due process? Trump deportation agenda escalates
Chuck Rocha and Mark McKinnon discuss the latest developments in the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown, including a Justice Department plan to reportedly use FBI, drug and firearm agents to support deportations. Plus, a judge moves to allow the president to use a wartime power to deport Venezuelan migrants.
