Why Dems Must Call Out Trump's Authoritarianism

Polls show that voters care more the economy than the fall of democracy, we should try to change their mind

Last week in the Oval Office, surrounded by his cabinet and the media, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders that instructed his Department of Justice to investigate two individuals for the crime of criticizing the regime. Miles Taylor is a former Trump staffer who anonymously wrote an op-ed criticizing Trump before going public and becoming a vocal critic of Trump. Christopher Krebs was a cybersecurity official in the first Trump Administration who dared to push back on the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

There’s no inkling or evidence that either committed any crime. No allegation, no probable cause. All they did was publicly criticize the President of the United States. For 250 years, being free to criticize those in power was fundamental to our democracy. Not anymore. Not with Trump back in the White House.

These executive orders are part of a larger, very disturbing pattern. In recent weeks, Donald Trump, with the full support of the Republican Party and acquiescence of much of American society:

• Rounded up groups of people and sent them to a prison in El Salvador (CECOT) known for torture and starvation without any form of due process;

• Sent a squad of plainclothes, masked officers to arrest a graduate student whose visa was revoked because she co-signed an op-ed;

• Prevented a well-respected media outlet from covering major White House events because they refuse to use the term “Gulf of America” to describe the “Gulf of Mexico;”

• Mused about revoking U.S. citizenship from certain individuals and deporting them to countries they have never even visited;

• Targeted perceived opponents using the full power of the government to coerce compliance from universities and law firms; and

• Convinced the Attorney General to appear on Fox News to threaten people who oppose the President’s most significant donor with prosecution.

If this were happening in any other country, we could easily recognize these actions for what they are — democracy falling into dictatorship. But because it’s our country — the United States, the leading force for democracy in the world — the media, society, and even many Democratic politicians do not talk about it this way.

Why isn’t this a bigger story? Why isn’t it THE story?

We never fathomed this happening in America, and for this reason, we lack the imagination and vocabulary to describe what's happening accurately. We believed our system of checks and balances and our institutions could withstand an attempt to grab ultimate power. What happens everywhere else could never happen here.

Well, it’s happening. And it’s happening faster than even Trump’s most hyperbolic critics imagined. One by one, American institutions bend to Trump to avoid punishment. While there are exceptions, too many Democrats will not call out Trump, sidestepping core constitutional protections like due process and freedom of speech. Instead, most Democrats are talking about the price of eggs, the tariffs, tax cuts for billionaires, and cuts to health care programs like Medicaid.

In the months after the election, I pushed for Democrats to focus exclusively on the economy and stop defending broken institutions. That approach no longer sits right with me.

Something feels off about focusing on the price of eggs when American democracy is under its greatest assault in history. I find it hard to imagine that the best way to defeat an authoritarian is to run the same campaign Democrats ran against Mitt Romney twelve years ago.

This post is part of a series about the various strategies and tactics Democrats — from leadership down to activists — can employ to make Trump more unpopular. Sign up here if you want to follow along and participate in the conversation.

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The Messaging Debate

Democrats lost in 2024 because voters didn’t trust us on the economy. Our messaging was about protecting political institutions that most voters see as ineffective and corrupt. Democrats — and particularly Joe Biden — came to embody an unchanging, broken political system.

I agree with this analysis. I have been a long and loud critic of Biden’s messaging. Democrats must do better on the economy.

The data shows that our best message is about Republican support for tax cuts for billionaires paid for by cuts to Medicaid. It’s one of the best testing messages I have ever seen. People are pissed about high prices and Trump's approval rating on lowering costs is deeply underwater, so I understand the value of hitting him on prices — especially the tariffs.

The voters who care about democracy tend to be college-educated political junkies who are already in our camp.

But this defeatist attitude has permeated Democratic messaging despite our more sophisticated and affordable message testing. Unlike the old days, there is no need to commission an expensive poll, get 700-1000 people to answer a phone, and then process the data. It is now possible to quickly test any message for its ability to persuade. It doesn’t end with expensive television ads. Campaigns are now testing lines from speeches, social videos, and even tweets. Every word uttered online or IRL is message-tested within an inch of its life.

These tools are incredibly valuable. I am a voracious consumer of the data they provide, but ultimately, these tools tell us what voters already care about. Perhaps the question Democrats should ask is, what do we want them to care about?

Voters are not sufficiently alarmed by American democracy crumbling. Instead of accepting that premise, Democrats should try to change it.

Because of my obvious biases, I try to imagine what Barack Obama would do now. Would he focus exclusively on an economic message or would he try to tell a bigger story and raise the stakes?

The answer is clear. He would address the elephant in the room. I am confident of his approach because that’s what he did in 2008. The campaign he ran was largely about the economy, but he also talked about the arrogance and impetuousness that got us into the Iraq War, the incompetence that led to Katrina, and the avarice and corruption in Republican Washington. He talked about torture, illegal wiretapping, and wars of choice. He told a story about how Bush squandered his opportunity to lead through the politics of fear and division.

Times were different back then. The stakes are much higher now, but the politics can be similar if we tell a compelling story about what Trump is doing, how it's hurting families, and what Democrats would do differently.

How to Make the Case

You are observing me change my mind in real time. The more that I see from Trump, the more it feels like Democrats are playing small ball. How do we square the circle? How do we tell a bigger story that speaks to Trump’s dangerous actions but avoids defending broken institutions when the public has a ferocious appetite for change?

I do not have all of the answers, but here are some initial thoughts on how Democrats could make the case:

1. No Fear: Senator Chris Murphy is one of few Democrats who have taken up this mantle. Despite a very successful record as a senator, Murphy was largely unknown only a few months ago. His national profile has grown significantly because he has become a Paul Revere of sorts — clearly and authentically explaining what Trump is doing and why it’s dangerous. He is sincere. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have taken a different approach, talking about the dangers of Trump through a class prism. Once again, it’s authentic.
   What do these messages have in common with each other — and with Obama in 2008? They are told without fear or political calculus. These are scary times; and Democrats seem more scared of their own shadow than whatever Trump is doing.

2. Don’t Try to Fuse Two Messages Together: The worst decision in politics is no decision. Pick a lane. Some of the Democratic messaging has been too cute by half. When Trump pardoned the January 6th rioters, Democratic politicians flooded Twitter with things like “Pardoning rioters does nothing to lower the price of eggs.” You can see how they got to this point. The communications director says we have to talk about what's in the news to get coverage and the pollster says high egg prices are a top concern. Voila, a terrible message. Pardoning violent criminals who beat police officers is bad enough. No need to inauthentically tie it to egg prices.

3. Corruption Explains Everything: Democrats can’t abandon talking about the economy, but we can’t also stand by silently as Trump shreds the Constitution. The best way to do both is to explain why Trump is abridging people’s rights, weaponizing government, punishing speech, and pushing through his agenda without regard for the courts or Congress, all in service of the ultra-wealthy and politically connected. It’s a government of, by, and for the billionaires. Nothing and no one else matters. They are the ones who will get the tax cuts, the handouts, and the preferential treatment. It’s pay to play, and only the wealthiest of Americans can afford it.
   Everyone else must fend for themselves. Trump will destroy every entity and institution that stands in the way of his power. The more power he has, the better things will be for Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and the rest of the oligarchs ruling America.

4. Running on a Reform Agenda: This is easier said than done, but Democrats need to do more than identify the problem. We need solutions. We need a reform agenda to address money in politics and corporate influence in government. We also need to ensure that someone like Trump can never again muster such an assault on our system. In the coming weeks and months, I will be writing more about what our reform agenda could look like, but there is no question in my mind that we need one. Having a plan to fix a broken system is the best way to avoid becoming the defenders of the broken system.

Maybe I am falling into the same trap as before — responding to my own emotions and the opinions of the highly engaged Democrats who dominate my network and social feeds. But it really does feel like something unprecedented is happening now.

We cannot abandon the economy, especially after the tariff-induced economic crisis. There is no question that the economic argument is the best-testing message, but focusing exclusively on the economy is to let Trump off the hook. Given the nature of our media environment and the willful silence of so many stakeholders, people will only be informed if Democrats tell them.

America is in a dangerous situation. Given the speed with which Trump is dismantling our democracy, silence at this moment could be a historic mistake.