Paul Rivera, the author of the Democratic Party’s internal autopsy report on the 2024 presidential election loss, has revealed that a significant section was removed from the version released earlier this summer. Rivera told the New York Times that a chapter titled “What Happened in 2024,” which he personally handed to party chairman Ken Martin in January, was missing from the published report.

The omitted section reportedly included discussions about President Joe Biden’s decision to run for re-election and the influence of Democratic operatives who had become “generationally wealthy off politics.” Although the chapter did not name individuals, Rivera wrote that Democrats seeking change “keep banging their heads up against a system proven to be inflexible and self-enriching.”

Rivera expressed uncertainty about whether the removal was a deliberate attempt to hide this content, stating, “Whether that was a conscious decision on their part to bury the section for the purposes of hiding a paragraph, I don’t know. That’s a them question.”

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) had previously asserted that the autopsy report was released “in its entirety.” The report, published in May, was widely criticized for failing to explain why the party and its 2024 presidential candidates, Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, did not gain enough support to defeat Donald Trump.

According to Rivera’s missing chapter, it is possible that those at the highest levels of 2024 decision-making “misunderstood the mood and practicalities facing everyday America” and missed key signals about voter frustration with Democrats.

Ken Martin responded by saying the party would have released the disputed chapter if it existed and emphasized his campaign for party chairmanship aimed at holding the “consultant-industrial complex accountable” to ensure funds are spent effectively.

Rivera is now going public with his claims alongside a comprehensive 564-page review of the election loss, motivated by “hope and, honestly, a little bit of desperation” and a belief that “we need some disruption here to force change.”

Sources