Former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta on Thursday advised Democrats to "stick to the substance" in battling President Donald Trump, including stopping the Republican healthcare bill in Congress.
"My advice to my fellow Democrats is stick to what's important," Podesta, 68, who served in the Obama and Clinton administrations, told Wolf Blitzer on CNN.
"That is stopping the Senate healthcare bill that will knock 22 million people out of their health insurance; that will raise premiums, particularly for people who are nearing retirement; that defunds Planned Parenthood.
"Stick to the substance," Podesta said.
Podesta said that the various Trump controversies, ranging from the various Russia investigations to his tweets earlier Thursday personally slamming MSNBC co-host Mika Brzezinski – should not deter Democrats from their agenda.
"Talk about the economy. Talk about what their plan is for jobs," he told Blitzer. "Let him do what he's going to do.
"The public knows what his personality is like, at this point. There's no point in reinforcing that or proving it."
On Russia, Podesta testified in classified session Tuesday before the House Intelligence Committee on its investigation.
His emails, supposedly hacked by Moscow, were published online by WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign.
Podesta said that the committee was within its "mandate" to investigate the breach, as well as any possible ties between Trump aides and the Kremlin.
"The fact is the Russians did interfere in our election," Podesta said. "They did it in trying to help Donald Trump, 17 U.S. intelligence agencies concluded.
"And that is a direct insult to our democracy and needs to be dealt with."
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