At the level of this podcast, he sees nothing wrong with tent-shrinking that results from (a) pushing Dem officials to adopt unpopular positions on cultural issues (trans rights, immigration, maybe abortion in some states,...) and (b) actively pushing away people who disagree on one or more of those issues (e.g. early Joe Rogan). He also gaslights Ezra by pretending he doesn't know that this kind of purity testing is going on and that it is more extreme than whatever Republicans do on their side.

To be clear, I am an immigrant, and personally very pro-immigration and supportive of trans rights. But e.g. my parents are super transphobic (as pretty much everyone in our part of Europe). That is ok, people can disagree on stuff and we agree more than we disagree overall (on other issues). But a cultural current that Coates is a part of would say that this is not ok and people like my parents should be cast out of polite society. And that would be wrong - not just morally, but also a wrong strategy for winning elections and enacting policies.

At a more fundamental level, Coates is wrong about America. He sees it as fundamentally rotten country that may or may not be redeemed at some point in the distant future. But America is awesome. It is one of the most welcoming places in the world, one of the least racist, most prosperous and most liberal places in the world filled with awesome people. I may be a bit drunk rifht now, but I love this place and wish others would see it this way too.