washington
CNN
—
President Donald Trump is already testing the limits of Hill Democrats who have vowed to be less hostile the second time around.
Privately, Democrats largely agree that the time has come to end capitalist resistance to the new president. And in his first 24 hours in office, President Trump released those who violently attacked police officers protecting the Capitol four years ago.
The party’s attempt to usher in a new era of receptivity to the White House suddenly turned out to be more complicated in reality. Just days into his second term, Trump is once again luring his political opponents and disrupting their strategies in real time.
“The natural inclination is to fight, fight, fight, fight,” said Tom Suozzi, a centrist Democratic congressman who represents the district Trump won on Long Island. . Suozzi stressed that Democrats need to be more disciplined in politics to avoid more reactionary tactics, saying, “That’s what got us here.”
Still, they acknowledge that they cannot ignore President Trump’s decision to allow the release of participants in the January 6 riot while pushing for the deportation of other violent criminals. “I mean, come on,” said an exasperated Suozzi.
“It’s pretty hard not to want to work with him,” added Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia. The lawmaker released a scathing statement on January 6 about how some of the pardoned rioters physically assaulted multiple police officers, using weapons such as Tasers and bear spray. Police officers who live in his district.
Top Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are pleading with lawmakers to stick to substantive policy differences rather than personality clashes or social media attacks on the person who won the popular vote. There is. But tensions remain within the party over where to draw the line with Trump. Democrats in President Trump’s turf visit Mar-a-Lago to vote on Republican bills on immigration and transgender athletes, while protesting Trump’s inauguration and making-for-TV Cabinet picks. Some people are protesting.
Regarding pardons in particular, Jeffries told Democrats on Wednesday that President Trump’s decision to release participants in the January 6 riot jeopardized the safety of the American people, according to two people who were present. Unofficially, he said that it was necessary to come up with a form that made it clear whether it would be exposed to the public. And the focus was not on Trump, but on the collusion of House Republicans, the Republicans who would vote in two years.
Democrats are also trying to contrast that what President Trump is doing isn’t actually helping the American people who voted for him.
“I think they’re trying to flood that area” by issuing the executive order, said Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia. “Mr. Trump was hired because he thought he could help bring down food prices, but what does pardoning literally hundreds of criminals who assaulted police officers have to do with lowering food prices? Is there?”
With the party still in retreat, some Democrats want to discuss a unifying message for President Trump’s second term, preferably one that doesn’t center around Trump. The plan is to advance an economic-focused vision and attack Republicans almost solely on costs, while ignoring all but the most egregious Trump actions. Jeffries himself said on the first day of the new Congress that he would work with Republicans when possible, but would “oppose far-right extremism whenever necessary.”
“We shouldn’t just have a knee-jerk reaction to oppose everything. We should really focus on what they’re trying to pass,” said Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada. , is one of many moderate Democrats who are encouraging the party to be more strategic in its response to President Trump this time around.
There’s an important reason for that. “I think the main difference is that Trump won the popular vote. He definitely won my district.”
But the change in tone is complicated by a courageous Mr. Trump, who is making bigger-than-expected promises on his first day in office. Then there are the Democrats’ own struggles, including a lack of a clear message and messengers to convey it, according to interviews with dozens of lawmakers, campaign workers and senior aides.
Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver says his party is in a pattern of holding out amid “brainy” questions about lessons learned from Trump’s victory, saying “not everyone has surrendered.” said.
“People are sitting in a circle and quietly discussing what the strategy should be,” he said. “Do we need to change anything? Should we hold President Trump accountable for everything we don’t like? Or should we be selective?”
Confirmation hearings are unfolding in real time as the Democratic Party struggles to respond to the second Trump administration.
Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearings included tough questions about Hegseth’s personal life, including a particularly tough exchange with Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia about his marriage and unplanned pregnancy. However, other hearings, including those for Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, indicated that the Department of Homeland Security nominated Kristi Noem. They were relatively polite by partisan standards and focused more on policy disagreements than personal opinions. Animus.
Some Democrats said they are trying to find candidates they can vote for even if they don’t completely agree with them on policies.
“This guy is clearly not qualified,” Warner said of Hegseth. “I support several of President Trump’s nominees. I voted for[President Trump’s nominee for CIA Director John]Ratcliffe, I voted for Bessent, but some of them are way over the edge. Some exceed it.”
But some Democrats have privately cringed, saying they watched the more explosive moments of these hearings, especially the Hegseth hearing, and felt the tone sounded a lot like 2017.
“Rather than actually addressing the fact that the party has no message and doesn’t really have a spokesperson, it’s gone back to the ‘attack him’ strategy,” one House Democratic leader said. said. strategy. “Just go back to high-pitched attacks.”
As the debate over messaging continues, Democrats are also grappling with how to navigate a social media landscape in which they feel they are falling behind.
At a Senate Democratic closed-door luncheon last week, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey led his colleagues on the changing dynamics of the media echo chamber, where conservatives are gaining traction. Democrats scrutinized examples of how conspiracy theories play out, such as the story about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield. In Ohio, he explained how Democrats need to leverage their own tools to better get their message across, a rapidly expanding conservative media space.
Sources said one bright spot highlighted by Democrats was a viral video of Warner melting tuna in his home kitchen during the pandemic, drawing cheers from people who questioned the lawmaker’s culinary leanings. He said he was jeered at.
“The communications ecosystem has changed in a way that most people in their 60s and 70s don’t understand,” one Democratic senator said of the presentation’s message.
The senators talked about the need to repost each other’s social media posts to try to get their messages across organically. But they also argued that traditional media cannot be completely abandoned.
At one point, attendees said, a Democrat attending the meeting asked if their party had any conservative influencers. Mr Booker replied that the party had no such thing.
“They have a permanent information ecosystem. We don’t,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, said after lunch. “They define us, but we cannot define them. No matter how good our message is here, it will be reflected, echoed, and amplified just like theirs. There is no such thing.”
