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Clyburn: "If Democrats Run On Medicare For All, Defund The Police, Socialized Medicine, We Won't Win"

Speaker Nancy Pelosi also urged the caucus to focus on an "agenda of lowering health care, better paychecks, building infrastructure.”

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 02: Committee Chairman and House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) speaks as Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar testifies before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, on Capitol Hill on October 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite-Pool/Getty Images)

By Essence · Updated December 2, 2020

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) issued a warning to Democrats on a caucus call on Thursday, urging them to stay away from progressive positions as the Party potentially faces pivotal run-off races in the battleground state of Georgia, Politico reports.

If “we are going to run on Medicare for All, defund the police, socialized medicine, we’re not going to win,” Clyburn said to people on the call.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi also urged the caucus to focus on an “agenda of lowering health care, better paychecks, building infrastructure.”

“This has been a life or death fight for the very fate of our democracy. We did not win every battle, but we did win the war,” Pelosi reportedly said. “We held the House. Joe Biden is on a clear path to be the next president of the United States.”

While the Democratic Party managed to hold on to the House, control of the Senate could come down to two Georgia races—GOP Sen. David Perdue facing off against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff and GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler against Democratic candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.