Doc Rivers wants Dems to stop losing.
NBA coach Doc Rivers believes the Democratic Party’s game plan is failing.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JANUARY 27: New head coach Doc Rivers of the Milwaukee Bucks is introduced during a press conference at Fiserv Forum on January 27, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
Like his NBA colleagues Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich, Rivers has been staunchly anti-Donald Trump. Yet, even he has the sense to urge his party to change course after Trump’s landslide victory in November.
Rivers joined MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on her podcast to discuss how Democrats can break their losing streak.
READ: Doc Rivers Urges ‘Black, Brown, Latino’ People To Vote Against Trump After ‘Awful’ MSG Rally
“We are a party of being [inclusive], everybody is included, right? But I remember Cory Booker, we are at a function, and I ask him why can’t the Democrats all agree on something, because the Republicans do that well.”
Given the Democrats’ reluctance to shift from identity politics, will Rivers’ advice fall on deaf ears?
It’s amusing that Doc thinks he has the winning strategy for ANY team desperate for a victory.
Still, Rivers recognizes that the Democrats are stuck, struggling to regain the trust of Americans after years of pushing a progressive agenda instead of addressing key issues that matter to the general population.
WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump’s huge win is making Dems desperate for an answer. (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage)
Rivers acknowledges the Republicans have been the party of the people while calling out the Democrats for their stubbornness.
He continued, “You have to look at some of the things [Republicans] do well. One of the things they do is they fall in line. They don’t care. If you listen to some of the things these guys said about Trump and then when you hear them speak now, all they do is praise, they are falling in line.
“But [Trump] said something interesting. He said we have so many groups on our side, we don’t just have the White male. We have everybody, and to get everybody to agree on one thing is very difficult, but we’re going to have to start doing that if we want change.”
Post-2024 election, Democrats have reverted to their flawed tactic of deeming Trump’s win illegitimate, evident in recent “No Kings Day” protests.
“Trump won and start there, not ‘because,’” Rivers continued. “Trump won and what do we have to do differently? You have to take ownership of things. We do it in sports all the time.”
Since Trump’s victory, the Democratic Party has doubled down on catering to radical progressives, reinforcing Democratic Socialism through leaders like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and, based on his policies, California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Doc Rivers encourages Dems to be the party of the people again. (Imagn/USA Today)
It’s a losing strategy, and it may be too late for the Democrats to change.
“Yeah, I come in after a game we lost ‘because.’ But then I say we lost, but we have to do these things differently if we want to win. We can’t just say we lost because ‘they just made a lot of shots.’
“Then we have to force them to miss more shots, we have to do something different. It is so strange we are blaming the people who voted for Trump for why he won. It makes no sense to me. It’s backwards.”
Good luck with that, Doc.
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