How are Democrats Responding to Trump’s Political Blitzkrieg?
By Jason Collins
Donald Trump promised change throughout his campaign, and he wasn’t lying. Although he’s only been back in office for a month, we have already seen some big policy shifts and a swift and aggressive approach to immigration and refugee policies.
With the Democrats still reeling in disbelief over their loss they still haven’t fully self-analyzed yet, they’re now left to navigate the politics of the second (or third?) era of Trump with a new approach to their resistance. Already, they’re at a disadvantage with Republicans appearing as a united front behind Trump for whatever their reasons be it cooperation, collaboration, or fear. The Democrats are going to have to mount a united opposition to defend their institutions currently under attack.
Trump’s Scorched Earth Approach
Democrats knew what was coming when Trump stepped back into office. He had been quite vocal about his plans, but the speed at which these changes occurred was unprecedented.
In the first 24 hours of being back in the White House, Trump had withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords, pardoned the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization.
That’s not all. On his first day in office, he also made moves to eliminate what he called “wasteful” and “radical” government spending, also known as diversity, equity, and inclusion. He placed a 90-day hold on foreign aid to U.S. allies, renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and signed an executive order that ceased and prevented future immigration at the Southern border.
Under the “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” more stringent immigration vetting and screening procedures were implemented. Mass deportations also started this past month, and as of Feb.3, 5,693 had been deported. This all happened on January 20!
In the following weeks, Trump signed and made efforts to change multiple policies and rescinded more than 70 executive actions signed by former president Joe Biden, leaving Democrats angry and worried about this naked power grab and what appears to be a radical reshaping of the American government.
Jasmine Crockett, a representative from the Democrats, commented on the slurry orders saying,
It is a fire hose right now. That’s what he does. He creates a ton of chaos, so it’s hard to keep up with it.
But keep up with it they must or they may find themselves in a position where they’re defending the status quo when a majority of people want change. This position could cost them another election. Faiz Shakir, a campaign manager warned the Democrat Party,
We cannot expect working-class audiences to see us any differently if we are not offering anything new or substantive to attract their support.
Do Democrats Have a Plan?
Within 48 hours of Trump’s inauguration, Democratic lawmakers attended a closed-door meeting led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about how the party would respond to Trump’s changes. A person in the room who requested anonymity revealed that in the meeting, lawmakers admitted Trump’s new administration was going to “flood the zone” and that the Democrats couldn’t afford to chase every single outrage. To be fair, there will be a lot.
This meant they had to adopt a new playbook that departed from a noisy resistance. Democrat senator Adam Schiff agreed with this new approach, and NBC News reported that in an interview, he said,
I think we have to pick our fights and not chase after every crazy squirrel.
He explained further that they should focus on “The stuff that really matters — the trade wars that are going to raise costs on people, the mass deportations that are going to raise food prices and cause suffering among huge numbers of families, the pardoning of criminals who beat the police and now the focus on tax cuts for really rich people that will do nothing for working families. These are the big fights that we need to focus on.”
So, how exactly are they planning on evolving the resistance?
The Democrat Resistance 2.0
This new playbook will involve zeroing in on issues that lay the groundwork for the 2026 midterm elections and less on his cultural taunts like stopping the purchasing of paper straws.
In summary, they plan to prove that Trump has no plan to improve their livelihoods by focusing on economic issues, hoping to win back voters.
So, who is leading this new resistance? Here’s the problem: there isn’t one. Former presidential candidates Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey are working together to keep Democrats in the Senate informed on Trump’s agenda. For now, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer appears to be the spokesperson for this strategy and in a letter to his Democrat colleagues, outlined the revised plan of attack. Schumer as the face of the resistance isn’t a great look. Schumer looks and acts old. He’s hardly the person leading the coalition that is going to win back voters turned off by Joe Biden’s age and lethargy.
Democrats are attempting to highlight key issues that will resonate with Americans such as the budget, specifically budget cuts for Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the SNAP program, which Democrats feel is going to finance tax breaks for Trump’s wealthy friends. The resistance seeks to focus on the GOP economic agenda and not get distracted by Trump’s other actions.
Senator Schumer responded to the 50-page document circulated by the House Budget Committee about these cuts, saying, “As the saying goes, ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.’ So, it’s no surprise from looking at Donald Trump’s cabinet of millionaires and billionaires that America’s middle class is on the menu.” He added,
We are going to talk every day and every week about what a rip-off this whole enterprise is.
But not all Democrats are on board with this new approach. Democratic strategist Christy Setzer slammed the party’s inconsistent and weak response to Trump. The Hill reported that Setzer said, “Democratic leadership acts like it’s permanently 2006, a year when, yes, we took back the Senate, but also before the Republican Party found a cult leader and lost its collective minds,” and added, “We don’t live in that world anymore; we have a lifelong conman and convicted felon in the Oval Office who tries every day to turn this country into a dictatorship. Let’s start acting like it.” Another strategist said,
Trump is eating us for lunch, and for the most part, we’re letting him.
A reason why this resistance is muted compared to 2016 is due to fractures in the party and a slow response to Trump’s dizzying pace. The resistance hasn’t even started yet and already, there’s been infighting in the party as Senate Democrats are divided on how hard they should fight against Trump’s agenda. The Hill reported that Senator John Fetterman expressed his frustration at the criticism of the party’s response, saying, “What more do they want us to do? Handcuff ourselves to lampposts and get arrested?”
The hosts of Pod Save America created by former Obama administration Democrat influencers have also slammed the party’s floundering resistance. During an episode, Jon Lovett said the party should stop obsessing over strategy and should,
Get out there, start responding, tell the truth… You don’t leave the field and build some playbook for how to respond and defeat Trump. You get out there and you start doing it. You see what works.
Will this resistance work? Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau believes this approach could work and the federal funding budget pushback is an example of this. The fractured party found its footing as it opened fire back at the Republicans over the proposed spending cuts. Earlier in the week, Trump attempted to freeze federal aid across the government, and the pushback from Democrats was enough for the White House to rescind the budget memo.
This small victory is proof that their new approach to focus on supporting legislation to fund the government and highlighting how Trump does not have the best interests of the average American people at heart will work as long as the party is smart about where, how, and who they fight.
But will this be enough to counter Trump’s momentum? If Democrats hope to halt his agenda, they need to work together to lay the groundwork for future elections by finding new ways to reach their audience (the voters), providing clarity on what they stand for, and being ready for moments of attack.
