Marsha Blackburn Says Democrats Want to 'Blow Up the Constitution.' The Facts Don't Back That Up.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told Fox News host Jason Chaffetz on Friday's episode of "Hannity" that Democrats are "running to destroy the country" and "want to blow up the Constitution."

"They want to make certain that government owns everything, that they own your private property, that they tell you where you're going to live, what kind of car you're going to drive, what you're going to study in school, what your job is going to be," Blackburn said, according to Breitbart's transcript of the segment.

Blackburn made a serious accusation but offered no support for it. She cited no Democratic bill, platform plank, or named lawmaker proposing government seizure of private property. No such proposal exists in current Democratic Party platforms at the federal level.

What's actually true and what isn't

Blackburn is right that a faction within the Democratic Party has shifted further left in recent years. Figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who caucuses with Democrats, have pushed policies like the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and steep wealth taxes. Those are real, documented positions that would expand government's role in the economy far beyond where it sits today.

But "expand government's role in health care or energy policy" is a different claim than "abolish private property" or "tell you what job to have." Blackburn offered no citation for the latter because there isn't one. No mainstream Democratic officeholder has proposed state ownership of private property or centrally assigned jobs. Conflating a policy disagreement over taxation and regulation with the abolition of the Constitution stretches the argument well past what the evidence shows.

Blackburn's broader point about domestic migration carries more factual weight. IRS and Census Bureau data have repeatedly shown net outmigration from high-tax states like California, Illinois, and New York toward lower-tax states including Tennessee, Texas, and Florida. Blackburn's own record backs her specific claims about Tennessee: she did lead opposition to a state income tax proposal as a state senator in the 1990s, and Tennessee remains one of nine states with no state income tax, according to the Tax Foundation.

The Democratic infighting is real, even if the framing is exaggerated

Chaffetz's setup line, that Democrats are "firing on Democrats," reflects a genuine and well-documented trend. In Michigan, multiple Democratic officials have broken with their own party's Senate nominee, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, and endorsed Republican Mike Rogers instead, according to Politics Poll Tracker. That's an unusual public rupture for a major party ahead of a general election and reflects real strategic disagreement, not manufactured drama.

Democrats are also navigating internal splits on cultural issues. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Friday the league will keep discussing transgender athlete participation in women's basketball at a task force meeting the following week, declining to stake out a position. That's a live, unresolved policy fight, not a settled Democratic position, and Democratic voters themselves are divided on it according to multiple public polls over the past two years.

The fair reading

Blackburn is entitled to argue that progressive economic policy goes too far, and there's a legitimate debate to be had about wealth taxes, regulatory overreach, and the size of government. That's a real policy disagreement Americans can and do have every election cycle.

What isn't supported by the record is the claim that Democrats as a party are trying to eliminate the Constitution or abolish private property outright. The actual legislative debate differs from this characterization.

The unresolved question going into the 2026 midterms is which version of the Democratic Party voters will actually see on the ballot: the more moderate wing represented by officials breaking from El-Sayed in Michigan, or the further-left flank Blackburn is describing. National polling on Democratic primary outcomes through the rest of 2026 will be the real test of which faction has the upper hand, not a cable news soundbite.