Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Friday took a page from President Trump’s playbook, casting blame on the media for the Democratic Party’s downward shift in approval ratings.

MSNBC’s Ali Velshi pointed out a perceived lack of messaging from Democrats as a reason for voters’ dwindling faith in the party — especially following significant losses in the 2024 election. Clyburn pushed back on the notion, instead pointing his finger at news organizations.

“I think the message coming from the Democratic Party is a good message,” the South Carolina Democrat told “The Last Word” host on Friday night. “The problem we’ve got, I’ll say, is that we have to depend upon the media to deliver it.”

He pointed to The Washington Post and criticism of owner Jeff Bezos’s relationship with Trump as an example.

“If we have The Washington Post, for instance, caving to this wannabe dictator and we’ve got other media entities that seem to rather push a narrative that will bring eyes to their newspapers or to their television sets and not really give a fair hearing or reporting to what we’re doing,” he added. “

His comments come as polling shows a downward spike in approval for the party.

A CNN survey released in mid-March found the Democratic Party’s favorability rating hitting a record low. In the poll, 54 percent of respondents said they had an overall unfavorable view of the party, while 29 percent said the opposite. Sixteen percent had no opinion.

A subsequent poll, unveiled late last month by Harvard CAPS/Harris, yielded similar results.

Despite his criticism of the media landscape, Clyburn praised Velshi’s coverage.

“I have to rely upon people like yourself,” he said in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. “You do a great job with this. That’s why I like coming on your shows on the weekends because you do a real good substantive reporting of what the issues are around us.”

He added, “But when you’ve got people who say we’re not going to fact-check, we’re going to worry about whether or not you’re telling the truth. And just let the reports go out there. That’s what’s killing us as Democrats, because we don’t have a stomach for just lying.”

The lawmaker’s scrutiny of news organizations is similar to Trump, who has also revved up his attacks on public broadcasters and outlets the president says have been particularly critical of him.

The latest examples include the White House’s feud with The Associated Press, his lawsuit against CBS News over former Vice President Harris’s “60 Minutes” interview and pressure on Congress to strip federal funding from NPR and PBS.