Barney Frank to Dems: 'Repudiate' Progressives

Barney Frank says he feels "very good," but the 86-year-old Democrat is in hospice care at home in Maine, and he's using what may be his final chapter to take direct aim at his party's left. As he preps for his new book to be released later this year, the former Massachusetts congressman and co-author of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul tells Politico that progressives have pushed "beyond what's politically acceptable" with causes like "defund the police" and "open borders," and that Democrats need to clearly distance themselves if they want to win. Silence, he argues, isn't enough: Party leaders should "explicitly repudiate" those positions, even while allowing activists to keep pushing them.

Frank, who served from 1981 to 2013, says he's proud of the Wall Street regulations that bear his name and of Congress' evolution on LGBTQ rights after he came out in 1987 and later married his husband while in office. From Ogunquit, he's still weighing in on politics, backing Maine Gov. Janet Mills over a progressive challenger and regretting that he likely won't see the "continued implosion of Donald Trump." "At 86, I've made it longer than I thought," Frank, who's dealing with congestive heart failure, says. "At some point, my heart's just going to give out, and it's reaching that stage. So I'm taking it easy at home and dealing with it by relaxing." More of the interview here.