Bill Ackman once helped bankroll the Democrat Party. Now, the billionaire hedge fund manager says it is “in the worst place it’s ever been” in America’s 250-year history.
Speaking with Katie Miller on "The Katie Miller Podcast," Ackman described a party that over the course of just over a decade, has traded a former identity for radicalism and anti-Americanism, qualities no American political party should aspire to embody. He placed part of the blame on career politicians whose livelihoods depend on keeping their seats. When dissent invites a primary challenge, going with the political current becomes a default survival strategy.
His example was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a man he once supported. Schumer embodies the party’s central predicament: trying to bring progressives into the Democrat fold without letting them wear the party as a skin suit.
Bill Ackman on the current state of the Democrat party: “The Democratic Party is in the worst place it’s ever been in the 250-year history of the country. It has become a crazy, radicalized, anti-American force. There are still some very high-quality Democratic senators and a few congressmen, but the party itself is in a very bad place. “The problem with people who choose politics as a career is that you either get with the party or you get primaried. “I had a good relationship with Senator Schumer over the years and thought he was a good man. In recent years, though, I’ve felt he’s mainly just trying to keep his job. “That’s the real low point for politicians—when they compromise their values and support a quasi-terrorist, or a terrorist supporter, running for Senate in Michigan simply because the party demands it. I find that deeply concerning.”
— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) October 20, 2026
"I think the Democratic Party is in the worst place it's ever been, in the 250-year history of the country," Ackman told Katie Miller. "I think it's become like this crazy, radicalized, you know, anti-American thing. I think it's — and by the way, I think there's some very high-quality Democrats, you know, senators and, sure, some congressmen — but the party itself, I think, is in a very bad place."
"And I think the problem with people who've chosen to be a politician for a career, you either have to get with the party in order to continue, or you get primaries," Ackman added. "You know, actually, Senator Schumer, I had a good relationship with him over the years. I thought he was a good man. But in recent years, I felt he's just trying to keep his job."
"And, you know, that's the really low point for politicians when they'll compromise on their values, and they'll support, you know, a quasi-terrorist, perhaps running for Senate in Michigan, because they have to for the party," Ackman said. "Stuff like that to me is, or terrorist supporter, is not, that's, I find that pretty, deeply concerning."
The picture Ackman paints should offer Republicans little comfort either. If he is right, losing an election no longer means accepting slightly higher taxes or slightly more generous spending. It means choosing between socialism and rejecting it, between blurring the distinction between men and women and defending it, between treating the Constitution as an obstacle and respecting it as a limit on power.
Republicans may welcome a Democrat Party that is easier to campaign against, but they should be considerably less enthusiastic about one they cannot afford to lose to.