DNC autopsy – A 192-page DNC-commissioned autopsy of the 2024 election loss to Donald Trump does not mention Gaza, Israel, or Palestinians at all, sparking sharp criticism from Arab American Democrats who pushed the party to confront its stance toward the war.
The 192-page autopsy commissioned by the Democratic National Committee reads like an attempt to dissect why Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election to Donald Trump. But for Linda Sarsour and other Arab American Democrats. one glaring omission makes the report feel less like a lesson and more like avoidance.
In the document, there is not a single mention of Gaza or Israel. The report also does not include the words “Palestine,” “Arab American,” or “Muslim.”
“Nothing about this surprises me,” Sarsour said. She is an organizer from Brooklyn who helped organize a campaign to pressure Harris to take a stance against the war. In her view, the problem is not that the report misses some campaign strategy detail. It’s that it doesn’t even acknowledge the issue that has been central to pressure from her community and others within the party.
“If they don’t change course quickly to center Palestine, foreign policy and recognize the influence of Arab/Palestinian/Muslim/young/progressive American voters, they will likely have to write another autopsy report post 2028 presidential elections.”
The autopsy was authored by Democratic strategist Paul Rivera and first published on Thursday morning. It lays out several factors the report found to be detrimental to Harris’s campaign. while also spotlighting contention within the party over then-President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s campaign against Palestinians in Gaza. But the war itself never gets a mention.
When asked about the omission, a DNC spokesperson declined to comment on the Gaza-related gap, instead pointing to a Substack written by party chair Ken Martin. In that post, Martin acknowledged what the committee found to be several shortcomings by Rivera and characterized the report as not ready.
In recent weeks, pressure mounted for the report to be released in full. Martin said he had been reluctant to do so because of what he described as major flaws in the work, calling it “not ready for primetime.”
“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin wrote Thursday on the DNC’s Substack. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it.”
Martin’s Substack post, the reporting notes, also does not mention Gaza, Israel, or any other terms related to the genocide.
The broader fight over Gaza and the Democratic Party has been building for months. especially in the run-up to the 2024 election. where Biden’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza became a flashpoint between the Democratic establishment and progressive Democrats—including Arab Americans. Progressives argued that failing to change course and take a clearer stance on unflinching support for the genocide dampened enthusiasm among the party’s base. with young voters at the center of the dispute.
One group of delegates, calling themselves the “Uncommitted Movement,” tried to push the party further left on Gaza. The activists submitted a slate of suggested speakers for the Democratic convention in Chicago. including Ruwa Romman. a Palestinian-American state representative in Georgia. But none of the speakers were accepted.
Romman, who is currently running for Georgia’s state Senate, said she was “deeply disappointed” to see the lack of mention of Gaza in the autopsy.
She said the Gaza war may not have been the top issue for most voters nationwide and in her home state of Georgia. Still. she argued. it functioned as a “smell test” for whether Democratic politicians were willing to put Arab American and Muslim communities first—especially for an electorate dealing with financial insecurity and healthcare woes.
“For most voters, if you look at what was their top issue, it’s the economy — of course,” Romman said. “But if you want politicians that are going to put you first and implement the kind of economic issues that you need to have a better life. those are going to be the politicians that are not beholden to special interests. And so Gaza became a way to look for that.”.
While many activists were urging the party to treat Gaza as a central part of what went wrong, the Democratic Party moved quickly to distance itself from the report. It released an annotated version that highlights missing data and unsubstantiated claims.
The report also carries a disclaimer at the top of every page: “This document reflects the views of the author. not the DNC. The DNC was not provided wi th the underlying sourcing. interviews. or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.”.
For Sarsour and Romman, the disclaimer and the internal debate over Rivera’s shortcomings do not erase what they see as the core problem: the autopsy’s silence on Gaza and the language used to describe Arab American and Muslim communities who sought a direct response.
DNC autopsy 2024 election loss Kamala Harris Donald Trump Gaza Israel Paul Rivera Ken Martin Linda Sarsour Ruwa Romman Uncommitted Movement Arab American Democrats Muslim voters