Former Republican Mona Charen is finding herself feeling appalled by the current state of the Democratic Party, which is making noises about "working with" President-elect Donald Trump even as he muses about potentially starting a war with Denmark.
In her latest column at The Bulwark, Charen begins by declaring Democrats have already done "enough capitulation" and have behaved with an "acquiescence bordering on servility."
While Charen acknowledges that Democrats do have significant lessons to learn from their defeat at Trump's hands in 2024, she also thinks that the party is reacting far too chastened by losing a national election by a mere one-and-a-half percentage points.
"Democrats are in a haze," she charges. "Instead of behaving like the loyal opposition—loyal, that is, to the Constitution—they’re behaving like a junior partner to the Republicans, withholding judgment on some of the wilder Trump cabinet nominees, and focusing on areas in which the two parties can work together rather than the ones on which they differ. The papers are filled with chirpy articles about how Trump can really make a difference on housing policy, or public health, or our energy future."
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She then recommends that the party turn its ire toward X owner Elon Musk, who is wielding massive influence over American politics despite having received precisely zero votes in any election.
"Not content with threatening to primary any Republican who dares assert independence from Trump, Musk has gone abroad seeking fascist-adjacent leaders to support," she writes. "The man Trump has entrusted with vast influence has endorsed the German AfD, a Russia-philic, extremist right-wing party that cannot seem to stop using racist and antisemitic slogans; agitated against the British government by spreading lies, promoted the cause of right- wing provocateur Tommy Robinson; and announced, as if ex cathedra, that Nigel Farage is no longer acceptable as the leader of the Reform UK."
She concludes by demanding Democrats stop pretending that they want to find common ground with Trump when he has made clear that his second term will be one bent on destruction and revenge.
"If Democrats and tech barons and newspaper owners and columnists keep pretending that Trump is really interested in health reform or housing initiatives and continue to sweep the dangerous and fascistic messages under the rug, there is zero chance that the American people will understand what is happening," she writes.