This is an adapted excerpt from the April 28 episode of “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
The story of what the opposition has done across these first 100 days of the Trump administration is every bit as important as what the Trump administration has done. While there has been disagreement among Democrats about how to approach this moment, that difference isn’t even really an ideological one.
What does feel pretty clear is that the traditional ways of opposing Trump are not going to work.
Yes, there are debates and disagreements on big issues on the margins, but Democrats agree that taking a wrecking ball to the economy with a half-cocked trade war is a bad idea. Democrats agree that letting the world’s richest person and his band of interns rifle through the federal government and suggest firing people who answer the phones at Social Security offices, people who track extreme weather events and people who research cancer is a bad idea. Democrats agree that mistakenly shipping a legal resident to a notorious foreign prison is outrageous, and deporting U.S. citizens as young as 2 years old is appalling. Democrats agree that abusing your power to go after law firms, the media and universities is the stuff of tin-pot dictators.
So the values are all pretty aligned. There are, what I would consider, some healthy disagreements about how to respond to all of that, including what issues to focus on and what tactics should be used to stand up to the actions of the Trump administration.
There are the Democrats who appear to have chosen the age-old, strongly-worded-letter route, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who sent one to the administration about its attacks on Harvard University with eight strongly worded questions. In contrast, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz decided to actually go to Harvard on Monday for a conversation about the future of the Democratic Party and what Democrats should do to push back on the Trump administration.
James Carville suggested that Democrats should essentially roll over and play dead and let the Trump administration implode. Others, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have held rallies with tens of thousands of people across red states. Then there’s Sen. Cory Booker, who spoke on the Senate floor for more than 25 hours to rail against what this administration is doing to the country. There’s also Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who traveled to a foreign country to highlight the lack of due process for his constituent who was shipped there by mistake.
Look, I do think we all need a little humility in this moment because it’s hard to know what’s going to work, what the best strategy is or what’s going to matter when it comes time for people to actually vote again. But what does feel pretty clear is that the traditional ways of opposing Donald Trump are not going to work.
So for Democratic leaders, it’s worth trying all sorts of things right now. It’s worth showing up in surprising places, doing surprising things and taking risks. Lead the protest, give the speech, take the trip — because the future of the party, and the future leadership of our country, is going to be determined by the people who do those things and not by the ones who play it safe.
Perhaps Democrats should listen to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who told Democrats in New Hampshire on Sunday, “It’s time to fight, everywhere, all at once.” Maybe that should be the strategy, because right now Trump is losing ground everywhere and all at once.
That’s according to an absolute avalanche of polling that has come out over the past few days, showing Trump losing support across the board. A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll put Trump’s approval at just 39% — the lowest rating they’ve found in 80 years for a president at the 100-day mark.
After electing Trump to address inflation and reduce the cost of living, a full 62% of Americans disapprove of his handling of that issue, according to a poll from CBS News/YouGov. On immigration, an issue that propelled many voters to support him in November, Trump’s biggest actions have exposed some of his biggest weaknesses. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC found that, by a nearly 20-point margin, more Americans oppose deporting students for protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza than favor it. A poll from The New York Times/Sienna College found that most voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, 52%, compared with just 31% who approved. Trump is weaker than he was when he was elected and weaker than when he took office. The overwhelming majority of people in that CBS News/YouGov poll made it crystal clear that they reject some of the most outrageous actions the Trump administration has already taken. When asked if it’s OK to mistakenly deport some legal U.S. residents to foreign countries, 81% of Americans said it’s not acceptable. When asked what the administration should do if the Supreme Court rules against it, 85% of Americans said the Trump administration should follow the ruling, according to the same poll. From the economy to immigration to the rule of law, voters seem to think Trump is going too far. So he is vulnerable. He is weaker than he was when he was elected and weaker than when he took office. But his loss of support has not yet translated into Democratic gains. In its poll, NBC News asked Americans the question: “Who fights for voters like you?” The most popular answer (38%) was that neither party fought for people like them. So, yes, while it is true that most of these polls should be pretty jarring to the Trump team, they also show that Democrats have a lot of work ahead. Now, we can’t say for sure that voters will respond to — whether it’s those fiery words from Pritzker, Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador, Booker’s Senate floor speech, or Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders’ red state rallies — but the data shows there’s an opportunity for Democrats here, because the seemingly unstoppable Trump of a few months ago is no more.
Jen Psaki is the host of "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" airing Tuesdays through Fridays at 9 p.m. EST. She is the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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