(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A leftist think tank center has circulated a memo telling Democrats which woke buzzwords to get rid off ahead of the 2026 primary elections.
The memo, written by Third Way and titled “Was It Something I Said”, targets language long embraced by the left and the Democratic Parry, including “privilege,” “birthing person,” “cisgender,” “patriarchy” and “LGBTQIA+.”
In total, the memo singled out 45 words, that the think tank noted, create “a wall between us and everyday people of all races, religions, and ethnicities.”
Scoop: Third Way is circulating a memo, shared first with @playbookdc, featuring a new black list of words Dems shouldn’t use. pic.twitter.com/VhvVHZTW9C
— Adam Wren (@adamwren) August 22, 2025
Third Way admitted that “people simply do not say, yet they hear them from Democrats.” Politico was first to report on the memo.
According to Third Way, Democrats have alienated many in a desperate bid to “please the few,” particularly on “culture issues, where our language sounds superior, haughty and arrogant.”
Third Way executive Matt Bennett described the memo as his organization’s best effort to “get Democrats to talk like normal people and stop talking like they’re leading a seminar at Antioch.”
“We think language is one of the central problems we face with normie voters, signaling that we are out of touch with how they live, think and talk,” he added.
A leftist think tank has circulated a memo telling Democrats which woke buzzwords to drop ahead of the 2026 primary elections.
The memo, written by Third Way and titled “Was It Something I Said,” targets language long embraced by the left and the Democratic Party, including “privilege,” “birthing person,” “cisgender,” “patriarchy” and “LGBTQIA+.”
In total, the memo singled out 45 words that, according to the think tank, create “a wall between us and everyday people of all races, religions, and ethnicities.”
He cited comedians Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman, along with Rep. Sarah McBride and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who have all criticized their party’s reliance on woke language.
Among the other banned words and phrases were:
- Environmental violence
- Dialoguing
- Triggering
- Othering
- Microaggression
- Holding space
- Body shaming
- Subverting norms
- Systems of oppression
- Cultural appropriation
- Overton window
- Existential threat
- Food and housing insecurity
- Person who immigrated
- Deadnaming
- Heteronormative
- BIPOC
- Allyship
- Incarcerated people
- Involuntary confinement
The memo comes nearly a year after Trump swept through the 2024 election by building a Republican coalition of men and other voting blocs.
