WATCH: Veteran Pollster Frank Luntz Disappoints CNN Host, Says Democrats’ DOGE Narrative Is Failing

Veteran pollster Frank Luntz threw cold water on CNN’s latest anti-Trump narrative, saying Democrats’ focus on fired federal workers isn’t resonating with voters.

Several Democrats brought terminated federal employees as their guests to President Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday. The gesture was part of a Democratic initiative to demonstrate solidarity with the numerous federal workers affected by recent job eliminations and budget restrictions.

Appearing on CNN, Luntz was asked whether Democrats’ strategy—highlighting federal employees, particularly veterans, who lost their jobs under Trump—was a winning move. His answer was a firm no.

“No, it’s not going to work for them because people see through it,” Luntz said. “They see the politicization of it.”

Luntz compared the tactic to past Democratic missteps, such as when they attempted to blame Republicans for corporate scandals like Enron. According to him, voters can tell when a party is pushing a political agenda rather than advocating for genuine policy solutions.

“If you look like you’re doing it for political reasons, they will reject you. If you look like you’re doing it for the genuine health and safety and well-being of the American people, they will embrace you,” he explained.

Luntz went further, arguing that Democrats are actually hurting themselves by focusing on the issue in the wrong way. “They’re causing their party to focus on the wrong issues, in the wrong language, in the wrong way,” he said.

WATCH:

With millions of federal workers recently ordered back to the office after years of Covid-era remote work, Democrats are attempting to spin the firings of certain workers—especially veterans—as a key issue. But as Luntz made clear, voters of the future aren’t buying it.

Several Democrats made their political statements at President Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday by bringing former federal employees who had been terminated due to recent budget cuts. The move was a clear attempt to push back against Trump’s efforts to streamline government operations and cut wasteful spending.

Among the guests were Alissa Ellman, a disabled Army veteran who lost her job at the Veterans Affairs Department, and Doug Kowalewski, a former National Science Foundation program director. Their invitations were part of a Democratic effort to criticize the administration’s push for government efficiency, which has led to widespread layoffs across federal agencies.

The primary target of their outrage is the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created to identify redundancies and cut unnecessary costs. Since its inception, the department, led by Elon Musk, has overseen workforce reductions across multiple agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, and HUD.

Democrats argue that these cuts will hurt essential services, while the administration maintains they are necessary to reduce waste and return accountability to Washington. The layoffs at HUD, for example, could impact as many as 50% of its employees.

However, Republicans and budget hawks argue that these reductions are long overdue, pointing out that many of these agencies have been bloated for years.