There’s a method to Trump's madness; Democrats must respond with bold initiatives

President Trump has started his second term with many bold but divisive actions that could threaten his standing with the public.

He is a much different president than he was when he began his first term in 2017. Then he seemed happy just to be in the Oval Office, unaware of how to use his power. Now, he’s locked and loaded and ready to kick some progressive butt.

Trump has already gotten away with convictions on 34 counts of felony fraud. Will he be able to escape the consequences of mass pardons of convicted Jan. 6 defendants and mass deportations of undocumented immigrants? Inquiring minds want to know.

The pardons for those who pillaged the Capitol are clearly unpopular. In a recent national poll by Marist University, six in ten Americans oppose the pardons while only one out of three support them.

The pardons are an insult to the brave police officers who were injured and lost their lives as a result of Jan. 6. Remember former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who suffered cardiac arrest and traumatic brain injury after having been tased by one of his pardoned assailants, Daniel Rodriguez.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) invited the freed angry mob to a reunion tour of the Capitol to celebrate their brutal and bloody invasion of the people’s House. This is the most ridiculous idea I have encountered in my decades in politics. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries got it right when he said, “House Republicans are celebrating pardons issued to a bloodthirsty mob who violently assaulted police officers on Jan. 6, 2021. What happened to backing the Blue?”

Then there’s Trump’s proposal for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. There’s already been an ICE raid on a factory in Newark, and more of the same are soon to follow. The Marist survey shows the deportations are not as unpopular as the mass pardons, but they are divisive.

The public is split right down the middle on the idea which mirrors the results of the 2024 presidential election. Will the creation of massive camps for immigrants reduce support for massive arrests? I’d like to think so but I’m not so sure.

Trump even had the audacity to criticize the Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde who prayed for him to show mercy to immigrants. A Republican member of Congress doubled down on Trump’s insulting comment when he said that the bishop should be deported for her statement. The threat to deport a person simply because of her political views is a clear threat to democracy and an invitation to fascism.

Can Trump get away with his indifference to public opinion? Of course, he can. He’s got away with just about every silly and stupid thing he’s ever done. Democrats and progressives can stop him if they are willing to take risks and bold steps.

Is there a method to Trump’s extremist madness? Here are the things he and his henchmen are counting on.

Most Americans focus on broad thematic strokes instead of positions on specific issues. The pardons and deportations and his attempt to eliminate birthright American citizenship for the children of immigrants may not be popular or constitutional, but they are drastic enough to convince people that he’s not satisfied with the much-dreaded status quo that voters rejected in 2024. The key word here is “mass.” Mass pardons and mass deportations suggest sweeping activity that people want in a president to get the country moving forward.

The blizzard of executive orders also obscures the ugly details of his dastardly deeds. Each action is simply a tiny broken branch in a thick forest of trees. This is Trump version of shock and awe and an attempt to overwhelm the media and the public with movement.

Finally, the actions appeal to Trump’s base which proved more helpful and durable than the Democratic bloc in the outcome of the presidential election. Trump learned he can count on his hard-core acolytes. Can Democrats depend on theirs?

What should Democrats and Progressives learn from all of this? Their lesson should be the urgent need for bold actions to demonstrate to voters that we are as angry about the state of the nation as they are.

The most unpopular thing that the new president has done so far is to eliminate the cap on the price of prescription drugs for Medicare and Medicaid recipients. Congressional Democrats must stand for more than just the restoration of these benefits. We should stand for the expansion of the program to cover all Americans and use our advocacy to rail against big pharma. Democrats must argue, as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has, that the health care system is “irrevocably broken” and that major reform is needed.

Democrats must go well beyond the re-arrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic. The health care system in this nation is on life support and we must stand tall for comprehensive change in health care and other problem areas. Bold initiatives raise great expectations and sow the seeds of disappointment if Trump doesn’t deliver. Democrats in opposition don’t risk as much by being big and bold.

Brad Bannon is a national Democratic strategist and CEO of Bannon Communications Research which polls for Democrats, labor unions and progressive issue groups. He hosts the popular progressive podcast on power, politics and policy, Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon.

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