How Democrats Can Start Fighting Back Right Now

Too many in the party are overcomplicating the simple and unable to muster any opposition to Trump.

In his first week as President, Donald Trump put his stamp on the federal government with dizzying ferocity. He is firing career prosecutors, cutting off billions of dollars in legally-appropriated funding, persecuting his adversaries, and pardoning his allies. Trump controls the national conversation and is using every minute of every day to push the idea that he is transforming the American government, culture, and values. Most of it is unprecedented. All of it is damaging and dangerous.

No one seems interested in standing up to Trump and his MAGA minions. The business and tech community gleefully threw their lots in with everything Trump does — they have no problem with pardons of violent criminals as long as they get their tax cuts and deregulation. While many reporters cover all of Trump’s misdeeds, the corporations who own most of our media companies are willing to settle frivolous lawsuits rather than get on Trump’s bad side. What the hell are the Democrats doing? Where the hell are they?

On one hand, I get it. We are divided, dismayed, and disoriented. There is no obvious party leader, and we are in a raging debate about why Kamala Harris lost. (Was she too liberal or not liberal enough?) We cannot expect elected Democrats to already have a full battle plan to rebuild our coalition, stop bleeding working-class, young, Black, and Latino voters, and solve our massive media problem.

We must start fighting back whether or not we have all the answers. Here are some thoughts on how Democrats should approach our role at the outset of Trump 2.0.

1. We Are an Opposition Party

Imagine with me a world where Donald Trump has a personality transplant and decides to work with Democrats in good faith on some legislative grand bargain on immigration or some other compelling national need.

Some Democrats assume that because Trump won the popular vote, it is good politics to try to work with him.

But Trump doesn’t view Congressional Democrats as governing partners. Why should we consider ourselves his?

Congressional Democrats’ primary function is to oppose Donald Trump, to make his life as hard as possible, and to use every tool in our admittedly limited toolbox to stymie his dangerous agenda and to use every media opportunity to proclaim Trump’s failures.

If Trump is the existential threat Democrats claimed he was during the election (and the first week makes it clear that we understated the case), then we need to wake up every day on defense.

There can and should be plenty of conversations about a positive Democratic agenda. I hope Democrats come up with some version of the “Contract for America” in 2026. But in the interim, we have no power to govern. Our task is clear. Democrats need to stop complicating the simple. Stop voting for Trump’s nominees and endorsing parts of his agenda because we think it will endear us to swing voters in 18 months.

2. Just Start Talking

Democrats have been remarkably silent about many of Trump’s transgressions. Notable Democratic figures — particularly those with White House ambitions in 2028 — have been treading very carefully. As a party, we are flummoxed about how to talk about Trump and the Republicans. Once again, I get it. Trump won the popular vote and all seven swing states. What we were doing before wasn’t working. Everyone is poring over polling data and focus group reports and talking to messaging gurus and linguistics experts to pinpoint the exact message that will finally take down Trump and the Republicans.

That message doesn’t exist. There is no magic set of words or killer slogan that will upend the politics of the moment.

Look, I want Democrats to be better messengers, but if there is one lesson from the Trump era, it’s this: when it comes to messaging, volume and frequency are vastly more important than precision.

Saying nothing is worse than saying the wrong thing.

Just get out there and start talking. No slogans, no jargon, just talk like a human; and talk about Trump.

Given the disparity in messaging firepower, Democrats should try to coalesce around one message at a time. But beggars can’t be choosers.

3. Make Trump Less Popular

What does opposing Trump mean when you don’t have the power to stop his legislative agenda? Well, here’s one way to think about it.

Republicans’ ability to implement their agenda and win elections hinges on one thing: Donald Trump’s popularity. The more popular he is, the more likely it is that vulnerable House Republicans will vote for his unpopular agenda, high-level Republicans will run against vulnerable Democrats, and Republicans will have hold of the House and Senate.

The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last made this point very eloquently with these two charts:

Last wrote:

At -1.6 unfavorable, Trump is a juggernaut. At -18 unfavorable, Trump is weak.

Pushing him to -18 is Democrats’ job. Their entire job. In fact, I’m not sure that anything else they do over the next year even matters.

I could not agree more. Here’s a useful heuristic for Democrats — if something makes Trump more popular, don’t do it. Confirming Trump’s nominees with substantial bipartisan majorities could make Trump more popular. Allowing him to sign a border security bill that Democrats only supported because they didn’t want to seem soft on the border (in an election that takes place in November of 2026?)seems like a bad idea.

It’s not hard. Trump should be at the apex of his popularity and he is substantially less popular than any newly elected President in history.

4. Trump Owns Everything

Here’s one way to think about making Trump and the Republicans less popular:

Donald Trump and the Republicans control all three branches of government. They are the only ones with the power to solve pressing problems or address people’s needs. Trump declared that he can fix everything and that America is in a “Golden Age.” He is responsible for all outcomes. Trump will take credit for anything good. Our job is to make sure he gets the blame for everything else. That’s certainly how the GOP and the media treated President Biden. During several news cycles of Biden’s presidency, he was hammered on the difficulty of buying a turkey on Thanksgiving or people’s gifts not arriving in time for Christmas.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Egg prices going up because of the avian flu? That’s on Trump. People not getting needed aid because of the federal funding freeze? Trump’s fault. Crime and disorder happening around the country? Trump. Chaos abroad? Trump. A collapse in the Gaza ceasefire? Also Trump.

The world has felt particularly chaotic in recent years. Part of that is real, and part of it is the refracted lens of social media. Trump won the presidency despite his flaws because he promised to make everything better. We need to hold him accountable when he fails.

Democrats have a lot to figure out in the coming months. I certainly don’t have all — or most — of the answers. I will be writing a lot about how Democrats can rebuild our coalition, revamp our messaging, and get back to the business of winning elections. But in the interim, too many Democrats are overcomplicating the simple and suffering from paralysis by analysis.

Just start fighting back and we’ll figure out the rest later.