Democrats have taken a lot of heat for their protest of President Donald Trump's first address to Congress of his second term, from the heckling and signs to disruption that led to the forcible removal of Rep. Al Green (D-TX) from the chamber. But people are focusing on all the wrong things, argued Michael Tomasky of The New Republic.
The real issue, he said, is that there's a simple tweak of strategy Democrats could have made to seriously shake Trump and the right-wing media sphere.
"Some critics said those little signs they held up were disrespectful. To my mind, they were just lame: 'Lies,' 'False,' 'Save Medicaid,' 'Musk Steals.' Blah. So predictable," wrote Tomasky. "What they should have done with those little signs is mock Trump. 'Stormy Daniels Says Hi.' 'E. Jean Carroll Wants Her Money.' 'Convicted Felon.' '43 Counts.' '2029 = Prison.' 'Orange You Ashamed?' Whatever. And, reviving the old Spy magazine classic, 'Short-Fingered Vulgarian.'"
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In short, he argued, they should have baited Trump's ego.
"He doesn’t care about lies or Medicaid," wrote Tomasky. "He cares about his vanity and never being wrong. It also would have completely outraged the right-wing propaganda complex. It would have dominated the news coverage for days. In fact we’d still be talking about it."
The fundamental problem, Tomasky continued, is that Democrats "just can’t seem to think outside the box. They don’t know how to be rude. Even when they try to be rude, they get it wrong. The main thing Green accomplished was that he gave critics an opening to say Democrats disrespect the office of the presidency. Why do that? My signs, in contrast, would expressly not disrespect the office. They would disrespect the man."
Republicans understand well that politics has to be entertainment to supporters, Tomasky wrote — and it's high time Democrats figure that out as well.
"Humor is important to any political movement. But especially the anti-Trump resistance, for three reasons," he concluded. "First, God knows we need a good laugh. Second, jokes at Trump’s expense — gleeful mockery of him — will drive him bonkers. But most importantly, it will help to alter the whole psychological trajectory of the political discourse: Democrats won’t seem like a beaten party if they’re willing to stunt on Trump, Elon Musk, and the rest of his weird, incompetent wrecking crew. Instead, they’ll seem brash and unconventional — and that’s as desperately needed as a good laugh."
