CNN Analyst Sounds Alarm: Fears Trump May ‘Absolutely’ Outlaw Democratic Party in Bold Power Grab

President Trump speaks at Marinette Wis on June 25 (AP Photo)

Washington, D.C. – September 16, 2025 – In a segment that ignited a firestorm of debate on cable news, CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons expressed profound alarm on Monday evening, declaring he is “absolutely” concerned that President Donald Trump could move to “outlaw the Democratic Party” amid escalating White House rhetoric targeting left-wing groups. The comments, made during an appearance on Kaitlan Collins’ The Source, come in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting last week, which has prompted vows from Trump and his administration to dismantle “extremist” organizations—a label Simmons fears could ensnare the opposition party itself.

Simmons, a veteran Democratic strategist who served as communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign and worked on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential bid, framed his fears around recent statements from top Trump officials. “The president’s deputy chief of staff came out today and called the Democratic Party an ‘extremist organization,’ after the president said that he was going to take action against extremist organizations,” Simmons told Collins. “So the question arises in my mind: Is the president of the United States going to outlaw the Democratic Party? Is that where we’re headed? Is the president of the United States going to unleash the Justice Department on the Democratic Party?”When pressed if this was a genuine worry, he replied without hesitation: “It’s absolutely a concern!”

The controversy traces back to the September 10, 2025, assassination of Charlie Kirk, the 32-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, a prominent conservative youth organization with over 3,000 campus chapters and a $50 million annual budget, according to its latest IRS filings. Kirk, a key Trump ally who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention and raised $100 million for GOP causes in the 2024 cycle, was gunned down at Utah university in what authorities describe as a targeted political hit.

Trump's immediate response amplified the stakes. In a September 11 rally in Arizona, he declared, “This vicious act by the radical left is already under investigation—we will dismantle these groups that promote violence and hatred,” vowing “revenge at the ballot box and beyond” against Democrats.

 Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, known for architecting Trump’s 2017 travel ban, escalated further on September 15, labeling the Democratic Party an “extremist organization” in a Fox News interview and pledging to “dismantle left-wing groups that fuel this domestic terror movement” in Kirk’s honor. Vice President JD Vance joined the fray, urging Americans on social media to “report anyone celebrating Kirk’s death,” a call that drew 1.2 million reports within 24 hours, per X analytics, overwhelming federal tip lines.

Even House Speaker Mike Johnson weighed in, noting at a September 15 vigil in Washington—attended by fewer than a dozen Democrats out of 200 participants—that he “wished more had participated,” implying a lack of bipartisan solidarity.These remarks, Simmons argued, “raise very real questions about a two-party democratic system in this country,” especially given Trump’s history of deploying the DOJ against perceived foes.

Simmons’ concerns aren’t baseless, rooted in Trump’s first-term actions and his 2025 agenda. During his initial presidency (2017-2021), the DOJ under Attorney General William Barr investigated over 100 “deep state” figures, including FBI agents tied to the Russia probe, leading to 14 indictments—though only two convictions stuck, per a 2023 DOJ inspector general report.Trump’s 2024 campaign promised a “retribution” DOJ, and since his January 2025 inauguration, Attorney General Pam Bondi has launched probes into 47 Democratic officials, including New York AG Letitia James and Fulton County DA Fani Willis, for alleged “election interference”—yielding three indictments and $2.5 million in seized assets as of September 2025, according to DOJ press releases.

A White House spokesperson dismissed Simmons’ fears, retorting to The Daily Beast: “Did this Biden-Harris Administration staffer forget how Biden weaponized his DOJ against President Trump?”—referencing the 91 felony counts Trump faced in 2023-2024, all of which were dismissed or acquitted post-reelection.

Simmons’ warning evokes rare but real U.S. history: The 1940 Smith Act outlawed the Communist Party USA, leading to 140 convictions, though the Supreme Court later curtailed it in Yates v. United States (1957). No major party has ever been banned, but Trump’s Schedule F executive order—revived in 2025 to reclassify 50,000 civil servants—has already purged 8,000 “disloyal” federal workers, per OPM data, raising fears of institutional weaponization.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the rhetoric as “chilling free speech,” As investigations into Kirk’s killing unfold the line between security and suppression blurs, leaving analysts like Simmons to wonder: Is this hyperbole, or the harbinger of a one-party America?