As President-elect Trump prepares for his second term in office, Democrats are bracing for a new and dark political era for them.
President Trump's inauguration on January 20 will be a major rebuke to the Democratic Party, and not just because it will bring renewed attention to Vice President Harris' decisive defeat in November.
Many Democrats see Trump as a real threat to the American republic. And voters easily returned him to power. This is a disappointing and worrying reality for many in the opposition party.
For at least the past four years, since the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, Democrats have argued that Trump is unfit to be president.
From President Biden's attacks on “extreme MAGA Republicans” to Harris' closing speech on the final day of the campaign from the Ellipse, the same location where President Trump addressed supporters in January. They have repeatedly beaten the drum on this debate. 6
Unsurprisingly, none of them worked. Biden, who ran in 2020 to save the “soul of America” from President Trump, will instead watch his predecessor take the oath again.
The reversal is severe. Mr. Trump is seeking to go after his tormentors, and there is support within his own party to do so.
In mid-December, Republicans on the House Executive Oversight Subcommittee announced that former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of President Trump's chief critics, would be appointed to a special House committee investigating the January incident. He claimed that he may have been involved in witness tampering while serving as a member of the committee. 6.
“Based on the evidence the subcommittee has, Liz Cheney could be in big trouble,” President Trump said with a smile on social media.
Cheney said on social media that the committee's report “deliberately ignores the truth and the task force's vast evidence, and instead contains lies and defamatory material aimed at covering up Donald Trump's conduct.” He is making up claims,” he said.
Democrats are grappling with two other major factors.
First, the Republicans regained the majority in the Senate and maintained a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, giving President Trump a unified government. In other words, Democrats need to think about how to resist President Trump's policies.
Second, Trump's victory in November also undermined Democratic support among some demographic groups on which the party relies primarily.
The mere fact that Republicans hold a majority in Congress deprives Democrats of a clear chance to put the brakes on President Trump's agenda on Capitol Hill. Instead, any backlash against the president-elect will occur at the state level.
Blue state governors, including California's Gavin Newsom, Illinois' J.B. Pritzker and Massachusetts' Maura Healey, have particularly expressed a desire to fight Trump.
Mr. Newsom is seeking up to $25 million to shore up the state's statutory reserve fund to fight Mr. Trump in court. Pritzker said what's next. “Happy Warrior” To the next president. Mr. Healy asserted State police say they refuse to cooperate with President Trump's mass deportation plan.
Newsom is widely seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate. Mr. Pritzker, Mr. Healey and another prominent Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, are also on the list.
But Democrats also have to address broader issues. Mr. Trump significantly outperformed expectations among young voters, black voters, and Latino voters in November.
To be clear, Harris won overall in all of these groups. But her margins were too narrow to offset traditional Republican advantages with other groups.
For example, Harris won by just 4 points among voters under 30, according to an Associated Press/FOX News voter analysis. Among men under 45, Trump won by 8 points.
Harris led Latino voters by 12 points. But Trump's achievement in securing the support of 43% of Latinos is a reminder of how much things have changed since 2016, when Trump's fiery rhetoric on immigration was predicted to seal his fate with this group. It was something.
The proportion of black voters who support Trump remains modest at 16%. But it was also double his approval rating four years ago.
Taken together, these statistics suggest that some degree of realignment is occurring in American politics, with Mr. Trump's appeal appealing to young voters dissatisfied with the state of the country and working-class voters of all races. It resonates with both.
Therefore, the Democratic Party needs to think about and fight for many things.
Some of the post-election bickering has centered on social issues, particularly transgender rights.
Moderates like Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) have suggested de-emphasizing the issue, but his arguments quickly drew backlash from progressive activists.
Leftists, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), argue that Democrats are too disconnected from working-class concerns like raising the minimum wage and expanding health care. Leftists argue that Harris' campaign failed to channel public outrage on these types of topics.
Those battles will be waged in the coming months.
But right now, Democrats are primarily bracing for President Trump's fallout — for the second time.
The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.
