Barack Obama tells House Democrats that party should focus on the midterms, not ideological divides
Former President Barack Obama told House Democrats at an event on Sunday in Los Angeles that as they focus on trying to win control of the House of Representatives, they should not get caught up in ideological differences within the party and can "sort through" them later, according to excerpts of his comments provided to ABC News.
Ideological arguments within the Democratic Party between its progressive and moderate wings came into sharp focus during 2025’s key elections -- particularly in New York City, as Democrats debated over the candidacy of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani. This past year, Obama campaigned on the ground for the Democratic Party’s Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial candidates and spoke with Mamdani ahead of Election Day.
The party has also been divided over how to handle government funding and the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Eight Senators who caucus with Democrats voted in November to end a government shutdown without an extension of the subsidies, sparking criticism from other Democrats who felt they should not have voted to reopen the government without an extension. House Democrats have since shown a largely united front, signing onto a discharge petition led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to force a vote on extending the subsidies for three years.
Obama told the lawmakers to "focus" on winning back the Republican-controlled House in the 2026 midterm elections, indicating that after that the party could work more through those ideological divisions.
"Because I promise, when that gets done, we have enormous talent, and we are then going to be in a position, as the next presidential campaign ramps up, to sort through some of the differences," Obama said, according to excerpts of his remarks obtained by ABC News.
Obama spoke in a conversation with Jeffries at the event, which was hosted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to support House Democrats. The event was attended by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, around a dozen members of the House, and other party supporters.
Obama said the Democratic Party's "differences aren’t that big" -- but "sometimes they get magnified because that’s the nature of social media."
But, Obama said, more progressive Democrats such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, and moderates such as Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the "Blue Dog" Democrats "actually agree in making sure that people have a living wage, they can support a family," and on issues such as people having health care and not being discriminated against.
ABC News has reached out to the offices of Ocasio-Cortez, Schumer, Sanders and Jeffries about Obama's remarks.
While some Democrats have "tactical differences," he added, "that shouldn’t be our primary concern because we’re fighting a bigger fight."
"Our job is to focus like a laser on this upcoming election. That’s the short term," Obama said, according to the excerpts.
He also told House Democrats that while the short-term goal is to win back the House, the longer-term goal is to "tell a story" to "bring [Democrats] back in." But, he added, they won’t be able to bring those people back in "if we don’t win the House of Representatives."
Obama told lawmakers that the party’s wins in 2025, while not surprising for him, have reenergized the party and show a path forward for discussing issues such as affordability and health care.
“If we bring energy and clarity and commitment to talking about things like affordability and making sure people have health care when they need it, and that they have the ability, if they work hard, to be able to support a family and create a better future for their children and their grandchildren … when we deliver that message, it resonates with people, and we have to have confidence in that,” Obama said, according to the excerpts of his remarks.
The challenge ahead, he told lawmakers later, is how the party strategizes toward the future and what it should do if it does win the House in 2026.
"With that as a bulwark, we’re now able to block some of the worst impulses that are coming out of this White House," he added, according to the excerpts of his remarks. "We have a platform now to highlight some of the damage that’s already been done, and we can make an argument about how we’re going to deal with some big, long-term problems."
ABC News' Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
