‘Democrats Suck at This So Bad’: Opposition to Trump Found Lacking
More political muscle needed against authoritarian president
Donald Trump’s unleashed a torrent of far-right executive actions since returning to the White House a little more than a week ago.
He’s begun his mass deportations, unlawfully dismissed nearly 20 independent federal inspectors general, tried to institute a freeze on federal spending, and much more.
But the opposition that Democrats are mounting to Trump’s agenda is lacking, according to activists and others across the country.
Democrats on Capitol Hill, especially, just aren’t taking forceful enough steps to stand up to the new president, they say.
“But here we are again, and you’re talking about the devastating effects of this on [food assistance] recipients, [women with infants and children] recipients, federal aid and grant recipients. But Democrats apparently have been caught flat-footed, Jake,” Bakari Sellers, an attorney and former South Carolina state lawmaker, told CNN host Jake Tapper late Tuesday. “And that’s the most disappointing thing. I mean, the House Democrats have a meeting tomorrow over something that’s urgent today. And then we rolled out [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer.
“I mean, I think that when you have institutions and places that are affected, we need to go to our constituents quickly. Those voices need to be up — 15, 30-second ads talking about how this affects them,” Sellers added. “My daughter actually receives federal grant money to go to Howard University. Benedict College, right down the street, 95 percent of their $65 million budget is from federal grant and aid money. The uncertainty — old folk who can’t get meals on wheels — we don’t need to hear from Chuck Schumer. We need to hear from people who are actually affected.
“And it’s just malpractice that Democrats suck at this so bad that we’re allowing Donald Trump and [Trump advisor] Stephen Miller to run roughshod on what our government looks like, and people are learning the wrong lessons from what happened November 5.”
Others are saying much the same thing on social media, including Nina Turner, a prominent progressive activist and former Democratic state lawmaker in Ohio.
Like Sellers, she called out Democrats for putting off an emergency meeting about Trump’s funding freeze, which has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
“‘Emergency meeting tomorrow’ is a clear indication that the Democratic Party needs to purge leadership immediately. These folks are not cut out for this moment,” she posted on social media.
Democratic strategist and consultant Sawyer Hackett admonished Democrats to use more leverage against Trump and his Republican allies.
“Senate Democrats need to say ‘there will be ZERO Democratic votes to consider or confirm any Trump nominees until the reckless funding freeze is reversed,’” Hackett posted. “It's not a fait accompli. We have leverage. Use it.”
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