President Donald Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" could become "the defining failure of his second term," according to The Atlantic's Jonathan Chait.
Many have criticized House Democrats for their "oddly sedate, almost academic in its nuance" video response to Trump, the staff writer said. However, he surmised that most of the party has enacted a "decade-old strategy designed to co-opt Trump’s appeal to working-class voters by backing away from the party’s general support for free trade under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama."
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While the silence on the left may stun some, it is key to potentially pick up votes in "heavily unionized districts or belonging to the party’s progressive wing.
According to Chait, this is why Democrats are sitting back as the GOP continues to divide and loudly question Trump.
However, he also opined that this might not be the best strategy for two reasons.
"The first is that Trump’s tariffs are having highly visible, highly damaging effects on the economy." The second problem for Democrats, he said, is "their base is highly energized to oppose Trump generally, which makes their equivocal trade messaging sound tone-deaf."
Chait called those on the left to action, saying, "A modulated stance on tariffs is going to become awkward for Democrats."
