Jessica Tarlov: Democrats 'Not Worthy' of Ballot If They Can't Convince Voters

Jessica Tarlov, the Democratic commentator and co-host of Raging Moderates, said Tuesday that if her party cannot turn Donald Trump's open talk about making money into votes, especially young people's votes, it is "not worthy of being on the ballot in this way."

The remark came one week before the November 3 midterms, in an episode where Tarlov otherwise sounded upbeat about Democrats' chances. She called herself "nauseously optimistic" about early-vote data and said, "Nothing is safe, but everything's looking pretty good."

It was a conditional warning, not a verdict on her party. But it set a standard: with this material in hand, Tarlov said, losing would be the party's own fault.

Jessica Tarlov's Warning to Democrats

Tarlov pointed to a rally clip in which Trump said, "We're making hundreds and hundreds of billions, trillions of dollars," and then said his people had told him not to mention it because people are paying more at the pump. In the clip, Trump said he did not "give a damn" and would say it anyway.

"If we can't make something of that, if you can't convince people to vote for you, especially young people, inspire in them the idea that maybe we could be the change, that we can fight for a better future for them that is fair and where they can get ahead that I almost feel like we should pack up our toys and go and are not worthy of being on the ballot in this way," Tarlov said.

"This is silver platter stuff, gold platter stuff, I guess I should say to use the Saddam comp." — Jessica Tarlov

That line referred to former President Barack Obama's joke about Trump's gold-heavy White House renovations, which opened the episode.

Tarlov also said the problem reaches past Trump. "I really liked Rahm Emanuel's full package of ethics reforms because he understands that this is a Democratic problem too," she said, "that the perception is everybody in these positions of power is doing this."

Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and Obama White House chief of staff, has called for age limits across all three branches, a ban on congressional stock trading, strict Supreme Court ethics rules and an end to "investor days" in the Oval Office, The Bulwark reported.

Trump's Stock Trades and Oil Holdings

Tarlov said the rally remarks came as Trump's trade filings were released, and that he "owns 81 million in oil and gas stocks." Her figure reflects the top of the disclosed range. Trump's oil and gas holdings are worth between $22.5 million and $81.6 million, up from $12.6 million to $46 million at the end of 2025, according to a report by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee, CBS News reported. The disclosures give only ranges, not exact values.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle told CBS News that the portfolio is "independently managed by third-party financial institutions" and that "there are no conflicts of interest."

What Polls Show About Trump and Self-Dealing

Co-host Scott Galloway cited a Reuters/Ipsos poll in the same episode, calling the finding "not a policy critique, it's a trust erosion." The poll, taken August 14 to 17, found that 69 percent of Americans believe Trump's private business interests influence his presidential decisions. That included nine in 10 Democrats and two-thirds of independents.

Trump's broader numbers are weak too. His approval stands at 37.6 percent, with 59.5 percent disapproving, according to PolitiKool's polling average. Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot by 8.4 points in PolitiKool's polling average.

The Young Voter Test

Tarlov's focus on young people points to the hardest part of her challenge. Turnout among Americans ages 18 to 29 drops sharply in midterm years. Tufts University's CIRCLE estimates that 23 percent of young people voted in 2022, compared with 47 percent in 2024 and 50 percent in 2020.

Galloway, who has argued that Democrats can win back young men, was more cautious on the show. "It doesn't appear like this rage is translated yet into voting," he said, adding that young people's turnout is "what I'll be watching for" next Tuesday.

What Happens Next

Tarlov said nothing she has seen in early voting worries her and named South Carolina, Mississippi and Alaska as worthwhile places for Democratic donors. She also noted that Republicans "could have the most monster election day in modern American history."

Whether young voters show up will help decide whether her warning ends up mattering.