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DNC’s summer showdown: Infighting exposes cracks in Democrats’ unity narrative against GOP agenda
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MINNEAPOLIS — Democrats came ready to fight as they huddled this week at the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) annual summer meeting.
Despite repeated talk that the party is unified as it aims to exit the political wilderness following last year’s election setbacks, Democrats fought among themselves multiple times during the three-day confab, which was held in Minnesota’s largest city.
As Democrats hunger for a more forceful response to counter President Donald Trump’s sweeping and controversial agenda, DNC Chair Ken Martin targeted the president, arguing Trump’s acting as «a dictator in chief» and that his second administration is «fascism dressed in a red tie.»
Martin pointed to pushback by Democrats against moves this summer by Trump and Republicans to create more right-leaning U.S. House seats in states across the country through rare mid-decade congressional redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Martin said he’s «sick and tired of this Democratic Party bringing a pencil to a knife fight.»
TRUMP, DEMOCRATS, MULL HOLDING PRESIDENTIAL-STYLE CONVENTIONS AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin addresses party members at the DNC’s summer meeting Aug. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News )
«We cannot be the only party that plays by the rules anymore,» he urged.
And DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, in a Fox News Digital interview on the sidelines of the meeting, urged that Democrats «have to engage in a level of fight, not power for power’s sake, but we have to fight hard because we understand what’s at stake for working people and working families.»
DNC CHAIR DEMANDS DEMOCRATS ‘STOP BRINGING A PENCIL TO A KNIFE FIGHT’
Echoing Martin, he said, «We’ve been playing checkers. They’re playing Grand Theft Auto.» He was referring to the long-running and popular action-adventure video game series that revolves around shooting, driving and stealing cars.
Amid talk that the party remains divided over a slew of policy and political issues, leaders preached unity.
«We do not have the luxury to fight amongst ourselves while that thing sits in the White House,» 2024 Democratic Party vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz emphasized, referring to Trump.
And Martin highlighted that «in this big tent party of ours, we are unified towards one single goal: to stop Donald Trump and put this country back on track.»
At several smaller panel discussions during the confab, a leader from the donor portal for Democrats known as ActBlue shared what was described as a fight song to energize party members.
The song and the lyrics, which were reported by Semafor, were mocked by conservatives on social media.
While unity was a top theme in Minneapolis, divisions did flare during the summer meeting.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin (center) huddles with a committee member from Florida, Allison Minnerly, at a meeting of the DNC’s Resolutions Committee. Aug. 26, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
There was plenty of disagreement as the DNC’s Resolutions Committee considered two dueling resolutions on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The panel voted down a symbolic resolution calling for an arms embargo and suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, which has long been the top American ally in the Middle East.
A separate resolution introduced and supported by Martin that called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as well as unrestricted access to humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, was unanimously passed by the panel.
But the defeat of the second, more forceful resolution, which was introduced by 26-year-old Allison Minnerly, a new DNC member from Florida, sparked opposition among some members on the panel.
DEMOCRATS DIVIDED: TENSIONS FLARE OVER WAR IN GAZA
«It’s not enough,» Sophia Danenberg, a DNC committee member from Washington, D.C., said as she pointed to Martin’s resolution. «People want to hear a louder, stronger statement.»
Danenberg emphasized, «I do fear that we’re losing our future as the Democratic Party by not being courageous on this issue.»
Minutes later, after a private conversation between Martin and Minnerly, the DNC chair asked the committee to «withdraw my resolution so we can move united today and have the conversation.»
«We need to keep working through this. We have to find a path forward as a party, and we have to stay unified,» the chair added.
Martin’s move, which was embraced by the committee, may buy a little bit of time, but the party remains divided on the issue.
Joe Salas, a DNC committee member from California and a Muslim American, told Fox News after the defeat of Minnerly’s resolution, «I think there is a disconnect between the people on the committee and the average lock-stock-and-barrel voters who identify with the Democratic Party.»
The showdown over the resolutions came as the Democratic Party’s once nearly unshakable support for Israel has fractured amid the bloodshed. And concerns over the growing death toll among Palestinians by many in the party’s progressive base have soared this spring and summer amid what many describe as a famine in Gaza. Recent polling indicates support for Israel’s continued military actions in Gaza is plummeting among Democrats.
Democrats are aiming to rebound after last year’s elections when the party lost control of the White House and the Senate. Democrats also fell short in their bid to win back the House majority, and Republicans made gains with voters who make up key parts of the Democratic Party’s base.
But the situation has only deteriorated for the Democrats in the 10 months since last year’s election setbacks, according to key metrics.
The Democrats’ brand is deeply unpopular, especially with younger voters, and the party’s poll numbers continue to drop to all-time lows in national surveys.
The DNC continues to face a massive fundraising deficit at the hands of the rival Republican National Committee (RNC), as well as concerns over lagging party registration.
But Martin was optimistic.
While he acknowledged «that our cash on hand seems to be low by comparison to the Republicans,» he touted at Wednesday morning’s Executive Committee meeting that «we have raised $70 million so far this year, which is a record.»
And Martin pointed to a special election victory Tuesday night in red state Iowa, where the Democrats flipped a GOP-held state Senate seat.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin speaks with DNC members, at the party’s summer meeting Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Fox News Digital/Paul Steinhauser)
«This is now 40 key elections this year that we’ve won or overperformed in,» Martin touted. «I want you to think about that for a second. Democrats, there’s wind at our back. We have overperformed in every single election that’s been on the ballot since Donald Trump was inaugurated.»
After a rough stretch after winning election as DNC chair in February, Martin appears to have steadied himself this summer, and there was plenty of praise for the new chair during the meeting, which on Wednesday adjourned early after the deadly church shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis just a few miles from the DNC meeting.
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But Republicans say they’re also thrilled with Martin’s tenure so far.
«Under Ken Martin’s leadership, Democrats have sunk to their lowest approval rating in 35 years, and the DNC is still paying off millions in debt from Kamala Harris’ failed campaign,» RNC communications director Zach Parkinson told Fox News. «As Republicans, we think he is doing a fantastic job, and we fully endorse him to stay on as DNC chair.»
democratic party,republicans elections,donald trump,elections,midterm elections,politics,israel
El Grupo Patio, considerado uno de los holdings inmobiliarios más destacados de Chile, atraviesa una grave crisis interna derivada de acusaciones de manipulación en la valoración de la compañía y la presentación de querellas por parte de accionistas y afectados.
La empresa, fundada a comienzos de los años 2000 por la familia Jalaff, cuenta con más de USD 4.000 millones en activos y opera en Chile, Perú, México y Estados Unidos. En los últimos años, el grupo se consolidó como un referente en el mercado inmobiliario latinoamericano.
La crisis actual se originó tras la aparición de actas de directorio que reflejan presuntas malas prácticas y decisiones cuestionables. Este conflicto, reportan medios locales, ha generado una crisis de confianza, que podría limitar el acceso a financiamiento y afectar la relación con acreedores y la percepción general del mercado.
El foco del conflicto se sitúa en la determinación del precio de la participación de Antonio Jalaff, uno de los fundadores, basada en un informe elaborado por la consultora Econsult.
Un grupo de 23 aportantes y herederos de la familia Jalaff presentaron acciones judiciales, argumentando que el informe fue solicitado y financiado por quienes buscaban adquirir esas acciones, dando lugar, según su denuncia, a una valoración artificialmente baja.
Para la querella no hay dudas de que dicho informe fue solicitado y financiado por los compradores, lo que habría resultado en una apreciación artificialmente deprimida del real valor de Grupo Patio.
Según la querella, el informe de Econsult “construyó una imagen económica distorsionada y artificialmente depreciada del Grupo Patio, generando una apariencia falsa sobre el estado financiero del conglomerado”.
A esto se añade, según la denuncia, la falta de transparencia en la metodología, generando cuestionamientos sobre la objetividad del valor fijado y un fuerte impacto en el fondo administrado por el holding.
En declaraciones recogidas por Diario Financiero, Antonio Jalaff manifestó su inquietud sobre el daño sufrido por la empresa y su propia reputación. “Aquí hay gente que ha hecho malas prácticas para inflar su trayectoria empresarial y su ego, a costa del daño económico a acreedores que confiaron en mí y en una compañía que fundé junto a mi padre”, afirmó.
Ante el 4º Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago, Antonio Jalaff presentó una querella por estafa. En ella sostiene que la venta de su participación se realizó bajo una “maquinación fraudulenta”. El perjuicio económico estimado alcanza las 700.000 UF (unos USD 28,5 millones), al haberse concretado la operación a un precio que describe como artificialmente disminuido.
Jalaff denunció: “No nos quedó otra opción. Fueron los compradores y sus asesores quienes impusieron el valor final de la venta, y nos vimos obligados a aceptarlo… nunca aprobé la venta a ese precio, sino que fui arrastrado por las circunstancias y los quórums de las respectivas sociedades”, afirmó entonces.
Álvaro Jalaff sostuvo una posición similar y acusó en El Mostrador, que otros accionistas buscaron aislar a su familia, facilitando el control hostil del grupo.
La operación fue estructurada por Larraín Vial, la mayor corredora de bolsa y firma de finanzas corporativas de Chile. Su historial reciente, que incluye otros escándalo de corrucpción conocido como el caso Factop, agrega presión reputacional al proceso.
Las repercusiones de este caso se extienden más allá del ámbito judicial, impactan la confianza en la gobernanza corporativa y la transparencia financiera dentro de los grandes conglomerados regionales. Los efectos, advierten medios locales, podrían convertirse en un precedente para la gestión empresarial y la dinámica de poder en el sector inmobiliario de Chile y Latinoamérica.
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Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s regime was crucial to propping up America’s closest Communist neighbor, Cuba, for many years — but with the despot now in a New York prison, U.S. lawmakers and analysts are turning their attention to Mexico, a top U.S. ally and trading partner that has quietly taken Venezuela’s place.
As of January, Mexico reportedly accounted for 13,000 barrels per day, or 44%, of Cuba’s 2025 oil imports, the top factor keeping what some lawmakers describe as a teetering economy barely afloat. With renewed trade talks approaching in July, Republican lawmakers and conservative analysts are calling for increased pressure on Mexico to cut off Cuba’s oil lifeline.
The Trump administration is also weighing instituting a maritime blockade on oil imports to Cuba, according to Politico. The outlet noted that the move would be an escalation of its previously-stated plan to cut off imports from Venezuela, where Maduro’s former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez is now acting president. Such a blockade could spur crisis in the country and lead to the economic collapse of the Castro/Diaz-Canel regime for which much of the U.S. diaspora has long hoped.
«The Cuban government was, even before this action with Maduro, probably at the weakest point that the regime has been in the last 65 years,» said Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., the only Cuban-born member of Congress.
AS TRUMP URGES DEAL, CUBAN PRESIDENT WARNS THAT THE COUNTRY WILL DEFEND ITSELF ‘TO THE LAST DROP OF BLOOD’
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, left; Cuban dictator Miguel Diaz-Canel, right. (Sergio Morales/Getty Images; Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
«This just makes them weaker. My one concern is that it appears that Mexico is now trying to prop them up. And so, the oil that they were receiving from Venezuela is now being supplanted by oil being received by Mexico.»
The Florida Republican said Mexico is in such a position in part because it is «governed by a Marxist,» casting criticism of socialist-party-aligned President Claudia Sheinbaum.
«The oil that they were receiving from Venezuela is now being supplanted by oil being received by Mexico,» he said.
«It doesn’t matter that [the Miguel Diaz-Canel] regime [in Cuba] has been suppressing and oppressing its people for 65 years, as long as they have the right ideology.»
MARCO RUBIO EMERGES AS KEY TRUMP POWER PLAYER AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION
Gimenez said that Congress could use upcoming intracontinental trade talks over the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to pressure Sheinbaum to stop supporting the dictatorship just 90 miles from Fort Zachary Taylor, at the southern tip of his district.
Cuba is already experiencing rolling blackouts, inability to feed its people, medical shortages and a nosedive in tourism due to those developments, he said.
«Would it be okay for us to kind of nudge them over the edge? I don’t know a problem with that,» he quipped.
SENATE REPUBLICAN PREDICTS THE FALL OF THE CUBAN REGIME
Andres Martinez-Fernandez, a Latin America and national security policy analyst who leads the Heritage Foundation’s research on the region, told Fox News Digital that U.S. tolerance for Mexico’s new position may not last.
«It’s a major issue,» he said, adding the Mexico-Cuba relationship got to «worrying levels» under Sheinbaum’s predecessor and now involves a Cuban medical program he called «forced slavery for revenue» involving Cuban doctors arriving in Mexico and sending remittances home – much of which can get funneled to the regime.
If Mexico City wants to continue aiding Havana, it had better prepare for «severe pushback,» he said, similarly citing the USMCA negotiations that Gimenez mentioned.
CUBA’S PRESIDENT DEFIANT, SAYS NO NEGOTIATIONS SCHEDULED AS TRUMP MOVES TO CHOKE OFF OIL LIFELINE
Those aspects, along with President Donald Trump’s discontent with Sheinbaum’s resistance to U.S. action against cartels could come to a head, he suggested, calling Mexico’s attitude «mendacious and duplicitous.»
«It says nothing good if they decide, to maintain this overt support for the Cuban regime as we continue to see this inadequate action on the cartel front.»
Trump declared earlier this month that there will be «no more oil or money going to Cuba – Zero» and the Department of War has been seizing sanctioned «shadow-fleet» oil tankers.
A White House official said Cuba is failing of its own volition and that its rulers suffered a major setback in losing support from the ousted Maduro regime. Trump believes Cuba should make a deal «before it is too late.»
Meanwhile, the aforementioned USMCA talks are scheduled to take place in July, when the trilateral trade deal undergoes a scheduled review.
The U.S. is likely to seek additional concessions from Mexico and Canada amid trade disputes, the Center for Strategic and International Studies predicted last year, with the interceding Mexico-Cuba development likely to further invigorate such demands.
VENEZUELA’S ACTING LEADER WAS ONCE A DEA ‘PRIORITY TARGET’: REPORT
A man waves a Cuban flag at a protest. (Yamil Lage/Getty Images)
The Sheinbaum administration, which did not respond to a request for comment, has reportedly painted its shipments as «humanitarian aid» for the Cuban people.
If Mexico continues oil shipments, it may lead to additionally tense relations between the U.S. and its southern neighbor, already frayed by Trump’s disdain for Sheinbaum’s steadfast refusal to allow American intercession against drug cartels.
If the shipments slacken, that may portend well for the aforementioned upcoming trade negotiations.
As for Cuba, many pro-democracy voices, particularly among the South Florida diaspora, hope the 66-year Castro/Diaz-Canel regime is not long for this world.
Martinez-Fernandez added the regime is likely facing one of the most difficult moments in its history; Mexico’s role aside.
RUBIO LAYS OUT THREE-PHASE PLAN FOR VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO: ‘NOT JUST WINGING IT’
In the 1990s, Cuba lost its larger «patron,» the Soviet Union, he said, and hit a rough patch until Hugo Chavez took power in 1999.
He added that while there has been Western concern about a Chinese foothold there, Beijing appears to have largely «cut ties» and said «there’s nothing new here.»
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«I do think that there is a likely need for additional developments before we see… That kind of next step collapse of the regime itself,» he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Commerce Department and the Palacio Nacional for comment.
venezuelan political crisis,cuba,mexico,location mexico,donald trump,energy
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