James Carville warns far-left candidates 'too hard-headed' to know they're unpopular

Democratic strategist James Carville warned during a CNN interview published Thursday that far-left candidates were "too hard-headed" to understand they're unpopular and added, "People don't like 'em."

"Let‘s take in Michigan. [Abdul] El-Sayed is highly competent, but he's way left. I see challenges from the 'progressive left.' And these people are too hard-headed to know that they're not popular. People don't like ‘em. But if you get a skewered turnout in a primary, you might end up losing a race that you should have never lost in the first place," Carville told CNN’s Donie O'Sullivan.

O'Sullivan noted Carville's "contempt" for the progressive left during the interview, as socialist victories and candidacies across the U.S. have signaled a leftward shift for the Democratic Party.

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Carville warned on his "Politics War Room" podcast Thursday that far-left candidates winning elections are a liability for the party at the national level.

El-Sayed's campaign did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.

A wave of democratic socialist candidates won Democratic primaries in New York City earlier this year. Abdul El-Sayed's competitive bid for the Democratic nomination for Michigan's U.S. Senate seat and Francesca Hong's frontrunner status in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor have also signaled a shift to the left for the party.

On the "Politics War Room" podcast, Carville's co-host, Al Hunt, said that while he disagrees with the narrative that the far-left is ascendant or poised to take over the party, he warned that "it could create problems for other Democrats with a hyped-up narrative that the left is taking over the Democratic Party" and the attention on such candidates "really do pose problems for what otherwise is a good Democratic year."

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"I agree, and the problem with Michigan and Wisconsin is what happens in the Michigan Democratic primary doesn't stay in the Michigan Democratic primary," Carville said. "What happens in the Wisconsin Democratic primary for governor doesn't stay in Wisconsin, and they're going to be tagged as part of the Democratic Party."

Carville also rhetorically asked the democratic socialists, "Why don't you get another name? Why are you dragging our names through the mud with your bulls---? If you don't like it, call yourself something else."

Fox News contributor and political commentator Guy Benson told Fox News Digital that Carville's criticism of the far-left wasn't necessarily about political purity.

"While Carville's criticism of these hardcore Leftist candidates is trenchant, it seems like he's most upset that they're risking his party's chances of maximizing power," he said. "He's recently gone on the record in support of destructive, banana republic-style madness like court packing and adding blue states. He's warned Democrats not to campaign on this extremism, but to attain power, then just ram it through.

"So how much of his beef with the outspoken radicals is about their wild-eyed candor, rather than real, substantive opposition to their radicalism?"

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The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) national co-chair appeared on "Fox News Sunday" last week and was asked if the group supported a wide range of far-left policy positions.

Speaking to Fox News' Shannon Bream, DSA national co-chair Megan Romer fired off a series of "yes" and "true" responses when asked whether the organization's platform calls for dismantling major American institutions.

"[You're advocating for] abolish[ing] the Senate?" Bream asked.

"True," Romer responded.

Romer also affirmed the organization's support for replacing the presidency and Supreme Court, abolishing ICE, eventually eliminating national borders while granting amnesty to people living in the country illegally, defunding the Pentagon, phasing out prisons and shifting most large corporations to public ownership.

She said some proposals, including abolishing borders and prisons, are part of the organization's long-term vision.

Fox News' Alexander Hall and Taylor Penley contributed to this report.