Democrat leader Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former US President John F Kennedy, said his party has "consistently fumbled" in winning over young voters, who have been influenced by Donald Trump.
Schlossberg, the Democratic Congressional candidate from Manhattan's 12th District, credited US President Trump for "getting people fired up about politics" and embracing modernity the way Democrats used to in their heydays.
Speaking at Fortune's CEO Initiative dinner earlier this month, Schlossberg said he doesn't believe the Democratic party lost its way on policy so much as it lost the plot on storytelling and cultural relevance.
"The Republican Party has embraced modernity in a way that the Democratic Party used to own. Whether it's space, whether it's the AI race, crypto, investing in new technologies - the Democratic Party has been way anti-everything, and anti-business in particular. Anti-modernity. Trump has flipped the script," the 33-year-old Congressional aspirant told Fortune.
Schlossberg's mother, Caroline Kennedy, was ambassador to Japan in President Barack Obama's administration and ambassador to Australia in President Joe Biden's administration. Caroline is President Kennedy's daughter.
Schlossberg, who holds degrees from Yale Law and Harvard Business School, is also popular as a progressive content creator. He was part of Joe Biden's aborted 2024 Presidential re-election campaign, making social media videos.
"People aren't looking for a superhero … They just want someone who knows how to speak their language, meet them where they are, and give them something of value," he said.
The Kennedy heir said Trump poached young men from the Democratic party.
"I think that they're not stupid, those young men, and I give President Trump a lot of credit for being able to influence new meeting environments and make politics accessible," he told Fortune.
Schlossberg said he disagreed with Trump a lot and was proud of being a Democrat. However, he said he agreed with the Democratic party of yesteryear, not the present one.
He said that Democrats used to embrace maternity, science, and new media channels - a party that was pro-affordable healthcare, pro-immigration, and pro-education.
"I don't think that's because we all of a sudden lost our way on policy. I think we've mainly been out in terms of reaching young people and telling them a story about what we're for, not just being a reactionary party," he said.
Schlossberg said he doesn't think Trump is wrong about everything, "that's too simplistic a view".
But Trump is failing to give Americans confidence in the government, he said.
"He's not giving us confidence in our ability to solve the problems of the future, and I think we really have too many problems that we're not paying attention to right now that we need to solve," Schlossberg said.