Politics

‘We need to reform our party’: Seth Moulton suggests how to change Democrats’ messaging

The Massachusetts congressman recently sat down with WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller and discussed the Signal chat, veterans, and his party's message.

Congressman Seth Moulton, in November 2024. anielle Parhizkaran / The Boston Globe, File

March 31, 2025

2 minutes to read

Rep. Seth Moulton spoke with CBS News Boston recently about how the failed Democratic message has allowed the Trump administration to carry out certain “Gestapo”-like deportations.

Moulton, who represents Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District, was interviewed by WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller Sunday in the aftermath of the Signal group chat leak involving top administration officials.

A Marine veteran himself, Moulton said the veterans who contacted him were “disgusted” by the news and called on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign for doubling down on his involvement in the incident.

“The ones who are still on active duty are honestly wondering, how are they expected to lead their troops?” Moulton told WBZ-TV. “How are they expected to make sure that their Marines or soldiers or airmen or sailors actually follow the rules to keep our nation safe when the top guy in the Department of Defense refuses to do so and has zero accountability for his own behavior?”

Later in the interview, Moulton was asked about the Democratic message in the 2024 election and what went wrong for the party. Moulton said it should have been “the easiest election for us in history.”

He said the party has “lost touch with a lot of Americans.” He said people believe that Democrats stand on a pedestal, preach about their platforms, and call naysayers bad people when they disagree.

Moulton highlighted one issue Democrats can start platforming on that can reclaim the public’s trust: Immigration.

“For years, we just denied that there was a problem,” he said. “We said, ‘Oh, it’s not a big deal at the southern border.’ Well, it is a big deal. It is a problem.”

Moulton recognized that President Donald Trump was able to flag immigration as an issue, but said he thinks Trump’s solutions are “horrific,” pointing to the detaining of a Tufts graduate student by masked ICE agents.

“[The incident] reminds me of the Gestapo,” he said. “Part of the reason he’s been able to get away with this is because Democrats didn’t have an alternative plan. We didn’t stand up with a plan to solve immigration ourselves.”

Moulton proposed Democrats do two fundamental things moving forward: Stand up against Trump and reform the party.

“Part of reform for our party is showing a good path forward and showing that we have a solution to these problems,” he said.

Watch the interview: