For most Democratic lawmakers, it’s unclear what resistance even looks like this time around. A prime example is their disjointed, ineffectual, all-around dismal performance at Trump’s unofficial State of the Union on March 4. Many of the women wore hot pink, a coordinated action with no obvious meaning. (“Pink,” one lawmaker explained, “is the color of protest.” Who knew?) Some lawmakers waved small black signs with messages such as false and musk steals. Some stood up and silently walked out while Trump was speaking. Some didn’t show up at all.
Green’s message hardly differed from the signs his colleagues were tepidly waving. What really mattered was the interruption itself, an act of flagrant disrespect that sought to reflect the seriousness of the moment. Green was doing what you do in an emergency: You freak out.
In fact, the less attention paid to Democrats, the better. The smartest thing Democrats could do now, argued Jeffries’s Senate counterpart, Chuck Schumer, was as little as possible. Trump will inevitably, irredeemably mess up, the thinking goes, and, when he does, the Democrats will coast back to power. For an opposition party in the midst of a raging identity crisis, it’s easy to see the appeal of seeking to turn their very powerlessness into an asset. With few tools at their disposal to slow, let alone stop, Trump’s rampage, party leaders have concluded that it’s best to stand back and let it happen. When the public inevitably recoils, voters will rush back to Democrats.
When it came time for those same Democrats to try to actually take a stand, they did even worse. Senate Democrats caved on a continuing resolution to keep the government open—but gut several key agencies—without seeking any major concessions. The message is clear, and it isn’t that Trump is a liar or Musk is a crook. It certainly isn’t that Democrats have a plan to win back a majority. It’s that Trump and Musk can do whatever they want—and Democrats have no clue how to stop them.
Lambert, who is in her early thirties, went viral shortly after the election, when she made a TikTok video urging the “Regina George Liberals” to step up to the plate. (For those too young or too old to remember, Regina George is the main antagonist in the 2004 movie Mean Girls, and a master of petty cruelty.) Lambert has since popularized the “Republican makeup” trend, crafting videos that skewer both maga women’s makeup and their political beliefs.
Lambert’s approach is not for everyone. “There is a difference between being tough and being mean,” longtime Democratic strategist David Axelrod told The Washington Post when asked about her. “If you want to win elections, better to be the first than the second. If you want to get clicks and amuse your base, [go] with number two.”
She is far from alone in embracing a meaner approach, as many people are taking it upon themselves to personally bully Republicans currently pushing Trump and Musk’s agenda.
Nothing unites people like hating the same thing, and meanness can create a bond between politicians and their constituents.We’ve seen this approach work before: One of the most energizing moments of Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign was when she embraced calling Trump “weird” and let Minnesota Governor Tim Walz meme his way onto the ticket with her.
By this reasoning, the time for Michelle Obama’s “when they go low, we go high” approach has clearly passed. The party’s insistence on playing by the old rules won’t get them anywhere with people who have put the rule book through the shredder. And as Democrats cling to respectability, they lose easy battles.
Here’s the thing: This country loves spite. More people tuned in to watch Kendrick Lamar perform his Drake diss track “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show than watched the actual game. Hardly anyone remembers what Trump said during his first term State of the Union addresses, but everyone remembers when Nancy Pelosi ripped up his speech in 2019 or clapped in his face a year later.
Representative Robert Garcia made that clear in February when he announced in the first DOGE subcommittee hearing that he would introduce a “dick pic.”
Similarly, Senator Cory Booker captured national attention on March 31 when he embarked on a marathon filibuster speech to protest Trump’s policies. Booker spoke for more than 25 hours, breaking the record for the longest speech delivered in the chamber, which was previously set by Strom Thurmond—who was attempting to block a civil rights bill—in 1957. More than 350 million people liked the livestream of Booker’s speech, and afterwards, he woke up April 2 to widespread praise.
Ten Democrats voted with Republicans, some of whom have expressed interest in stripping him of his committee assignments. Democratic Party leaders, meanwhile, are still trying to crack down on even bland forms of dissent—a clear sign of how badly the party is floundering.
One thing is for sure: Pelosi would have put up a much better fight than what we’ve seen since Trump’s inauguration. A petty queen in her own right, within hours of regaining the House speakership in 2019, Pelosi promptly shot down Trump’s dream of a wall along the southern border—and continued openly antagonizing him through the rest of his presidency. Pelosi is clearly chafing at her colleagues’ behavior now. She urged Senate Democrats to oppose the appropriations bill and expressed frustration on March 18 with Schumer specifically. “I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” she told a news conference. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that, only a few years ago, mounting a resistance to Donald Trump was not something Democratic leaders shied away from.
This time around, voters are exhausted. And with Democrats largely rolling over, it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel. “We have spent the last eight years ... talking about how Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, and now that he’s in power again, we are seeing that was true,” Litman said. “He is, in fact, a threat to democracy, and we want our leaders to act like it.” For Lambert, acting like it means no longer playing it “so, so, so, so safe,” and being “willing to take some risks.”
If they don’t, Democrats run the risk of never reclaiming power. As Trump barrels toward the 100-day mark of his second term, he remains stubbornly popular—albeit with an approval rating hovering in the upper 40s. The Democratic brand, meanwhile, is in the dumpster: Recent polling from NBC and CNN found the party had record-low favorability numbers. This huge problem will only get worse if Democrats keep meekly standing by while Trump and Musk rampage through every federal department. A failure to act at this moment won’t send voters running back to the Democrats. It will send them to the next strongman and his fanciful promises—or just to this one.
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