Despite his protestations, he was definitely engaging in false equivalence. Kendi's work is not the platform of the Democratic party (especially not the cherry-picked version he was talking about).

Democrats have their own far out wing, but unlike Republicans, they do not own the party. That comes at a substantial price: a significant chunk of their loss in 2016 came from being unable to engage their own far-left wing with a candidate they felt was too far to the right.

He would love a party that represents exactly his views, without having to compromise on any issue or work with people who disagree with him on any point. Congratulations. Welcome to the group called "everybody". Meantime, those who would like to actually work at governing the country try to find positions that people can tolerate, even though practically nobody loves them.