On March 4, in an address to a joint session of Congress, Donald Trump repeated claims, made originally after the assaination attempt on his life, that he was “saved by God to make America Great Again.” In short, like his inauguration speech, the speech before Congress was a rally. It gave no policy proposals or directives to Congress on what to pursue. It seemed to be a dictation of what he is going to do and has already done. He has already used his executive power to get his way, attempting to bypass the legislative and judicial branches. The Democratic Party, for the most part, sat silently, holding signs in empty protest while Republicans willingly gobbled up Trump’s words in rapturous applause.
The only thing this confirmed in Trump’s mind is that there are no real obstacles to his mandate, of which he believes himself to be divinely inspired, and he should keep pushing through.
I am not going to analyze any of his political agenda in detail because everything in his one hour and 39 minute speech was either fluff, smoke and mirrors, or repeating from one of the worst and most vague platforms I’ve seen in my life, second only to Project 2025. It was just a regurgitation of his election platform at best.
I will focus on the current strategies of resistance the Democratic Party is utilizing against Trump’s government, which are not working. There is an imperative for change. Tuesday’s speech illustrated how Democrats are slow to adapt to the current political climate. The Democrats desperately need to make a more tangible resistance to what they see in Trump as anathema to democracy in order to regain their footing.
It is pretty obvious that the Democrats and others have despised Trump ever since 2016. They have focused their campaigns the past three election cycles on Trump alone rather than the rest of the GOP, and it is pretty clear why. After 2016, the Republican Party made a drastic transformation from the moderate fiscal conservatism of Romney to the outright populism centered around Trump and this idea of “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) that he had created. Trump does not operate like other politicians who are quickly swayed by changing social pressures. Instead, he is emboldened by people challenging him, being self-obsessed and egotistical, and being willing to take measures to the extreme. By Tuesday the 4th, Trump had already proven that his second term will be defined by drastic executive action and seeing any attack against him as an attack on America (as if he is the characterization and the manifestation of the entire United States). So far, Trump has imposed tariffs on his closest allies, hurt the views of America in international relations, cozied up with Putin on the international stage, endangered millions of Americans through indiscriminate government “downsizing,” and more. Democrats responded loudly on social media against the actions Trump has already done and what he plans to do. When it was announced that there would be an address to a joint session of Congress, I expected there to be a proportionate show of opposition to illustrate to Trump what a good amount of those within the legislative branch see him as: a threat to democracy.
How did Democrats respond on Tuesday? They brought signs, stayed silent for most of it, and left quickly after the credits rolled. Normally, this silent dissent would speak volumes to a speaker, the visual of half of Congress stone-faced in contrast to a cheering obedient other side would show the division of America, and perhaps provide a leeway towards making change through compromise.
But this was not enough – Trump and the GOP both have the majority in Congress and have the electoral mandate via the 2024 election. Furthermore, Trump and the GOP have already signified that they are full-steam-ahead on trying to secure Trump’s vision of America, especially through Trump’s usage of executive action on things that should really be handled by Congress or the states. Silence and signs will not change the mentality or make the GOP question what they’ve done. It is as if you are placing an obstacle on a road, and the GOP simply drives around it because it didn’t affect them enough.
The Democrats sought to display dissent. Instead, they largely showed inaction and performative art to check off the boxes, without making a visible, tangible message that unsettled the GOP or Trump from the comfortability of their majority. Democrats’ actions largely fueled the Trump narrative that the Democrats are the party of no change and no response to coming tensions.
Of course, there were some outliers. Representatives like Al Green (who was removed for his actions), Maxwell Frost and Jasmine Crockett (who left of their own volition), and more made a greater message than those who merely held signs by walking out and, in some cases, interrupting Trump’s speech. I understand where House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies is coming from when he instructed his caucus to not make anything about “yourselves” and focus on the people whom Trump’s policies affected (i.e., not disrupt the speech too much), but the problem is we live in a representative democracy. These representatives are the manifestations of the constituencies that voted them into office, and the constituents expect action from them, especially when a lot of them are from relatively safe Democratic districts. Many of those representatives had the ability to take a greater and more visible stance against Trump with little increase in political cost, but they left the offer on the table.
President Zelensky’s meeting with Trump showed that, without submission to Trump, his ego is highlighted for the global stage, eroding the GOP’s manufactured image as selfless heroes. Once challenged, the GOP house begins to crumble. The GOP operates on the belief that no one will challenge them substantially and will instead step aside as they seek to establish their policies through their mandate gained through the 2024 election and, apparently, the God-given one.
This is how the government is kept in check when it seems like some want to dissolve all checks and balances. By making dissent explicitly clear, organizing, and making that message tangible through action, the bark turns into an actual bite that forces the government to listen. Standing around will not make change happen alone. Governments and our elected leaders operate on the idea of consent of the governed, not by divine right. The people have the right to make their voices heard and, if necessary, withdraw their consent through elections and the democratic process to search for well-being and change. But the idea of consent of the governed only works if people know that it exists and use it to the fullest extent that democracy allows. It works when people are willing to keep a check on their leaders. Without it, Trump can easily say he has been anointed by God, and we, the sheep, will blissfully follow.
