After failing to consolidate a single message of resistance against President Donald Trump over the past six weeks, Democrats seem to finally be thinking about what to say, but they still have a hard time figuring out how to convey that message to Americans.
The debate that Democrats made in response to Trump's first joint speech to Congress is still slightly cloudy. But one version looks like this: Trump cannot be trusted by the economy. He has led the country to dangerous territory and is not focused on the kitchen table issues that Americans care about.
Even before Trump's speech on Tuesday night, Congressional Democrats were torn apart about how they convey their message. Should they even attend a speech? Should their time be spent talking to their constituents and responding using alternative media? And if they appear, should they protest, confuse, annoy, sit or listen to the President?
The early answers to that last question came within the first five minutes of Trump's speech. Texas Democrat Al Greene stood up to take the president, shouting, “I have no authority to cut Medicaid.” He was owned by a Republican and eventually expelled from the room.
Other House Democrats wielded signs on hand with phrases like “Save Medicaid,” “Protect Veterans,” and “Musksteel.” But they were thoroughly laughed online by both Republicans and liberals, both by liberals who want more positive resistance to the president.
As the speech continued, Democrats began to go outside. Some wore other protest slogans and adorned shirts, such as Florida Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost. And during his two-hour speech, no Democrats clapped or stood up for Trump.
Still, all this seemed to empower Trump, rather than boosting the Democratic Party's own status with the audience. One CNN Flash vote for addresses found that the majority of viewers viewed the address as “very” or “somewhat” positive.
Even after the speech, the Democrats' response was still a bit troubling. The official rebuttal was brought to you by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a moderate former Intelligence Director General, who overtook former Vice President Kamala Harris of Michigan and won a Senate seat even after Trump won the state.
“The prices are still too high,” she says, “Americans want change,” but in a “reckless” way. She focused on everyday concerns. Trump's foreign policy, national security weakened by personal data and privacy at risk by federal government's purity of Elon Musk's government efficiency, and the harmful effects of Trump's economic policies on American lives.
“do [Trump’s] Does the plan actually help Americans move forward? It's not even close,” she said. “President Trump is trying to deliver unprecedented giveaways to his billionaire friends…and for that, he is going to make you pay for every part of your life. Grocery and home prices are rising. … His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices for energy, wood and cars. … The cost of premiums and prescriptions will be higher. … And one more thing: to pay for his plans, he was able to come very well after you retire.”
Meanwhile, on Instagram Live and Bluesky, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke about the threat Trump proposed tax cuts poses to Medicaid and Medicare. The president's promise to cut taxes while balancing the federal budget meant that Republicans “have to break Medicaid,” she said.
Other House members either spoke about Trump's new tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico, or focused their reaction to the proposed tax cuts as a gift to “his billionaire friends.” Senator Bernie Sanders has been set for Trump's “parallel reality,” which focuses on issues that “have nowhere in the concerns of the American people.”
From afar, they all look like versions of the same argument. But they point in a different direction.
Slotkin's conclusion was to keep Democrats and disgruntled Trump voters patient and hold representatives accountable. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez seemed to want more conflict – to Republicans who don't believe what they have to say, saturating the media with negative news. And it seems that the rank and file member strips are just together to ride.
With a lack of purpose and unity from the messenger, it is not yet clear that their larger point about Trump will still be breaking through.
And that's because Democrats are split across the media. They uniformly boycotted addresses and did not pay attention to another platform, but they still rely on the traditional mode of communication with the public.
Presidential speeches tend to attract the immediate attention of very enthusiastic Americans who tune in. Everyone else is exposed to it, and the Democrats' response is exposed online with shorter clips, via commentary on podcasts and live streams, and subsequent news reports.
On that front, Democrats still have a long way to go to break through and reach the brief, simple counter-counter to Trump's claims.
