DNC vice chair slams Trump as 'punk,' 'would-be dictator' in fiery Pa. town hall

Fox News

12-05-2025

A Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice chairman fired up a crowd outside Philadelphia on Saturday after calling President Donald Trump a "punk" and accusing his administration of modern-day book burning for adjusting content on government websites.
"There is a strategy of authoritarians and would-be dictators and punks like Donald Trump," Malcolm Kenyatta said at a town hall in Levittown that was officially targeting swing-district Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.
As part of that "strategy," Kenyatta said, "one of the first things they go after is history."
"We know that before, they used to take the books, put them in a little pile and burn them. Now they try to delete stuff off of our federal websites. But the effect is the same. They want us to forget what we are made of," he went on, in a clip circulated by the left-leaning outlet "The Keystone."
Since taking office, Trump has overseen agencies that have altered or removed content relating to DEI, climate change and gender ideology.
"Donald Trump is not the first bully or would-be authoritarian that Americans have taken on. We know it here in Pennsylvania. We don't have a good relationship with kings," he said, as Penn's Woods was founded by Quakers and other religious exiles fed up with European authoritarians. "I'm not bowing to a king."
Kenyatta is also the state representative for the Temple University area of North Philadelphia, and the first openly gay person of color to serve in Harrisburg.
He added that "people like Fitzpatrick" lack the "guts" to stand up to Trump.
At another recent appearance in Berks County – which includes Reading and Hamburg – Kenyatta railed against the arrest of Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka at an ICE detention facility there.
"He was peacefully protesting and speaking up for his constituents and his neighbors. He wasn't inciting an insurrection… because if he was doing that, they might have offered him a position in the Cabinet," Kenyatta said.
Kenyatta notably finished third in the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate primary won by Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and unsuccessfully ran for auditor general in 2024 against GOP incumbent Timothy DeFoor.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields responded Monday, telling Fox News Digital that Kenyatta is a "no-name state representative who was trounced in the Pennsylvania Senate primary due to his radical and unserious positions."
"The prominence the Democrat Party affords him reflects the party's disarray and desire to satisfy its radical base," Fields said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Fitzpatrick for comment.