How Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats are looking to call Trump’s bluff

Views: 4825

As Democrats mostly steel themselves to oppose another term of Donald Trump , progressives in the party appear to be converging around a new strategy. Politico reports that more liberal Dems plan to take the president-elect’s “populist, working-class proposals at his word — or at least pretend to.” Democratic lawmakers are announcing that they’re willing to work with Trump on promised populist policies that overlap with progressive goals. If he puts his money where his mouth is, then they’ll take some credit for it. “If he doesn’t, they can bash him for it,” Politico said.

In other words, progressives are angling to call Trump’s populist bluff.

For the most part calling Trump’s populist bluff could help expose the fraudulence of his campaign promises.

Deciding how to walk the line between resistance and effective governance is always a complicated endeavor — all the more so when the party in power threatens to try to unravel democracy. But as a starting strategy it’s a smart approach that could position progressives to expose the false promises of right-wing populism as a salve for the working class.

“President Trump announced during his campaign that he intended to put a 10 percent interest rate cap on consumer credit,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts told Politico. “Bring it on.” A number of her Democratic colleagues sounded similar notes, per Politico:

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in an interview that she would likely work with Trump if he pursues antitrust promises he made on the campaign trail. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said he sees himself partnering with Trump to tackle “large corporate consolidations,” while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) posted on X that he “looked forward” to Trump “fulfilling his promise” to cap credit card interest rates.

I’m cautiously optimistic that this could be a win-win for progressives. Republicans will be calling the shots, with control of the White House and Congress, but Democrats need to be leading demands for policies that protect working people from corporate exploitation. In the event that Trump and the Republicans do try to pass policies that protect working people from corporate exploitation, Democrats must be situated to take credit for leading the agenda and be ready to credit Republicans for taking a break from the policy agenda of billionaires … Read More