Democrats are being urged to come out swinging against Donald Trump before he can make his inauguration speech.
Progressive commentator Brian Beutler, who writes "Off Message," says that Democrats aren't helping anyone if their official comments apologize for high grocery prices.
"There’s still a passing chance to wrongfoot him, and that’s before he spews poison to tens of millions of American viewers," he wrote on Friday. "Democrats know who this man is, and that makes it their responsibility to limit the spread of his lies, so they don’t corrupt us, as a people, more than they have to."
He said that, given Trump's long history, "magnanimity" is not likely the speech's target message.
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Democrats have the opportunity to "beat him to the punch" by attacking Trump for seemingly giving up on his pledge to lower the high cost of groceries or gas prices.
There are also longstanding Trump lies that Democrats can assume will resurface, such as Trump's false claims about the 2020 election.
"My plea to Democrats is to put just a little effort into limiting the number of people Trump will fool with whichever deceptive course he chooses," he begged. "Assign someone, anyone capable of delivering remarks competently, to pick some platform, any platform, and say what’s true: Despite a campaign season worth of lies and agitprop, Joe Biden built an economy stronger than any in decades; when Trump predictably declares he inherited and reversed a disaster, it will be a lie."
"If and when he wrecks the economy again, it will be his fault," he continued. "Joe Biden inherited a crime wave from Donald Trump and returned crime to below its pre-Trump levels. He inherited a depressed economy, and delivered full employment. Biden conducted his presidency with actual magnanimity—or, at least, without malice—and we’re about to be reminded why we voted him into office in the first place."
That said, given Democrats' history and how they've handled the last few months, Beutler has no hope it will happen.
Read the commentary here.