AMNA NAWAZ: Democratic officials are looking at the Big Beautiful Bill as a political gift and hoping the voters view cuts to social spending negatively.

But the party faces several challenges ahead of next year's midterms, including a Republican governing trifecta and a base questioning if party leadership is doing enough to challenge President Trump.

Joining me now to discuss where the party goes next is Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin.

Ken, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thanks for joining us.

KEN MARTIN, Chairman, Democratic National Committee: Thank you so much for having me, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Democrats have just started running some ads this week against Democrats of House Republicans who voted for that Trump budget bill.

In your view, is that bill right now sort of the core messaging strategy for Democrats?

Is that the strongest argument you have got?

KEN MARTIN: Well, absolutely, it's a strong argument, because look at what this bill has done.

I mean, every Republican in this -- in the Congress, in the U.S. House and in the Senate, voted for this bill.

Every Democrat voted against it.

This is, as I call it, the big, beautiful betrayal.

All Republicans, every single one of them, put their oath to Donald Trump ahead of the oath to their constituents that they were elected by.

And as a result of this betrayal, this big, beautiful betrayal, they betrayed seniors, where over a quarter of nursing homes around this country are going to close.

They betrayed children, when we think about 4.2 million children in this country are going to lose nutritional assistance.

They betrayed the disabled, when 17 million Americans are going to be kicked off of their health insurance.

They betrayed rural communities with over 300 rural hospitals likely to close now.

They betrayed hardworking Americans; 1.75 million construction jobs alone are going to be lost because of this bill.

And at the end of the day, they did all of that to actually help those in our communities who already have so much, the billionaires, the rich, the people who don't need a tax break.

So, look, absolutely this is a gift.

It's a gift to the Democratic Party, but it's not a gift to the American people, who are going to suffer immensely over the next several years and longer because of this disastrous bill.

AMNA NAWAZ: As you have seen among some of your own Democratic base, though, there are those who say they want Democrats to be doing more.

I will put to you the latest numbers from our PBS News/NPR/Marist poll that showed some 43 percent of Democrats, your own supporters, disapprove of the job that Democrats in Congress are doing right now.

So why is it that you think your base is so unhappy with how Democrats are leading right now?

KEN MARTIN: Well, there's -- rightfully so, there's a lot of anxiety out there with what they have seen from this administration so far, is they're going down in a very aggressive manner to dismantle this country.

What we have seen is, they are... AMNA NAWAZ: And, if I may, to be clear, this is a disapproval of Democrats in Congress, not about the Trump administration.

KEN MARTIN: I understand that, but people are concerned of what they're seeing right now in this country.

And what they want is, they are anxious, they're nervous.

This is unprecedented.

We have never seen anything like this.

And at the end of the day, that anxiety, of course, requires everyone to do their part.

They want to see not just Democrats in Congress, but Democrats throughout this country, and whether you're in political party leadership, whether you're a local elected official, they want Democrats to do their part to resist this authoritarian regime and what they're doing to dismantle this country.

So I understand where that anxiety comes from.

But let me tell you what the Democratic Party has been doing.

We have already hosted over 130 town halls throughout the country to hold Republicans accountable to their disastrous policies that they have been pushing from the beginning with this administration, not just to hold them accountable, but to make sure that we're helping to amplify the stories of all the pain and anguish that's been inflicted upon the American people since Donald Trump was inaugurated.

AMNA NAWAZ: But, Ken, a lot of the frustration, even at those town halls, as you mentioned, that we have seen has been from Democrats who want to see Democrats do more than just message and hold conversational spaces.

They want to see you doing the kinds of things that Cory Booker did with the record floor speech or Hakeem Jeffries did or Senator Padilla did in confronting the DHS secretary.

They want to see you get caught trying, so to speak.

Why not do more of that?

KEN MARTIN: We are doing that.

And you just mentioned people who are doing it, right?

And folks are doing it all over the country.

Our Democratic attorney generals are... AMNA NAWAZ: I think the sense is it's not enough of that, and that's where the frustration comes from.

Is that fair?

KEN MARTIN: I don't think that's accurate, though.

Look, I think initially, when Donald Trump was inaugurated, I do believe the party and many of our elected officials were caught flat-footed.

But you haven't seen that in recent months.

You have seen elected officials, you just mentioned it, from Cory Booker to Hakeem Jeffries, to our Democratic attorney generals who are leading the way on filing litigation after litigation to take on this authoritarian regime, to our governors and local elected officials who are using the power of their offices to actually protect vulnerable communities and communities being targeted by this administration, and to our members of Congress, who realize that they may not have power in Congress right now.

But they have the power of their voices and their platforms to really get out there and speak loudly about what's happening.

And that's what's been happening for weeks and months now.

And so I get where the anxiety comes from, but it's just not accurate or true that the Democratic Party and our elected officials aren't doing enough.

AMNA NAWAZ: What do you take away from Zohran Mamdani's New York City mayoral Democratic primary win?

Are there lessons there for the party or the races?

KEN MARTIN: Well, first, it was a brilliant campaign.

And there's a lot of lessons.

One is, he campaigned for something.

And this is a critical piece.

We can't just be in a perpetual state of resisting Donald Trump.

Of course, we have to resist Donald Trump.

There's no doubt about it for all the reasons we just talked about.

But we also have to give people a sense of what we're for, what the Democratic Party is fighting for, and what we would do if they put us back in power.

And that's really critical.

And I think that's one of the lessons from Mamdani's campaign, is that he focused on affordability.

He focused on a message that was resonant with voters, and he campaigned for something, not against other people or against other things.

He campaigned on a vision of how he was going to make New York City a better place to live.

I think that's one of the lessons.

The other lessons, of course, is the tactics he used to get his message out, both a very aggressive in-person campaigning, meeting voters where they're at, and then also in those digital spaces, using very creative messaging to cut through the noise and to get to voters in an inexpensive but authentic way.

There's a lot to learn from that campaign, and I'm excited to learn more.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about concerns from some of your Jewish colleagues in particular about him not outright condemning the phrase globalize the intifada in a recent interview?

Some of your Jewish colleagues have said that could be very disturbing, potentially dangerous.

Do you agree with that?

KEN MARTIN: There's no candidate in this party that I agree 100 percent of the time with, to be honest with you.

There's things that I don't agree with Mamdani that he said.

But, at the end of the day, I always believe, as a Democratic Party chair in Minnesota for the last 14 years, and now the chair of the DNC, that you win through addition.

You win by bringing people into your coalition.

We have conservative Democrats.

We have centrist Democrats.

We have labor progressives like me, and we have this new brand of Democrat, which is the leftist.

And we win by bringing people into that coalition.

And at the end of the day, for me, that's the type of party we're going to lead.

We are a big tent party.

Yes, it leads to dissent and debate, and there's differences of opinions on a whole host of issues.

But we should celebrate that as a party and recognize, at the end of the day, we're better because of it.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin, joining us tonight.

Ken, thank you so much for your time.

Good to speak with you.

KEN MARTIN: Thank you, Amna.