O'Malley Faults Obama, Hillary for 'Forest Fire' That Weakened Dems

Martin O'Malley likened the Democratic party's recovery efforts to those "after a bad forest fire," the former presidential candidate and Maryland governor told ABC News.

And O'Malley, a presidential candidate in the 2016 election, blames two-term president Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for setting the conditions that led to the flameout of the party.

“What is happening now is the party is regenerating itself, almost like after a bad forest fire,” O'Malley said on ABC's "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.

"Rather than infusing that energy into the veins of the Democratic party and making the Democratic party new and more energetic, the president and his people decided to set up a separate organization in 'Organizing for America,'" O'Malley told ABC.

O'Malley dropped his presidential bid after the Iowa primary, won by Clinton in February of 2016.

O'Malley told ABC that the party's resurgence isn't coming from "a memo at the DNC."

"It's much more authentic. It's much more real. It's much closer to people than that. All over the country, you see new candidates running for office," O'Malley told ABC.

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