Democrats’ hatred of Trump makes them their own worst enemies

Here’s a question to consider: What the heck has happened to the Democratic Party?

You don’t have to be a political scientist to realize that Democrats have lost their way. It’s one thing to have ideological disagreements with the other side — it’s something else altogether to abandon not only traditional American values but common sense itself.

Let’s start with their “basket of deplorables” mindset. Hillary Clinton said it out loud in 2016, but this apparently is how many Democratic elites see half the country. If you question their agenda, you’re not just wrong — you’re immoral.

Look at the issue of transgender athletes in women’s sports. About 80 percent of Americans agree that biological males shouldn’t compete against biological females. Yet when the Senate had a chance to affirm this basic reality, not a single Democrat voted for it. Not one. They’re so terrified of their activist base that they’d rather ignore science and the people who elected them than risk being labeled “transphobic” on social media.

Then there’s the absurd reaction to the censure of Rep. Al Green (R-Texas), a progressive Democrat, who brandished his cane and interrupted a formal speech to Congress by a sitting president — something most Americans thought was out of line. When the House moved to censure him, more than a few Democrats — including members of the Congressional Black Caucus— not only defended Green, but also turned his censure into a spectacle, marching to the well of the House and singing “We Shall Overcome.”

Really? That song, a symbol of the civil rights movement, being used to defend a grandstanding politician? That’s not just tone-deaf — it’s plain offensive. It cheapens the struggles of those who fought for real justice.

And then there’s the moment that exposed just how petty Democrats have become. It happened when Trump during his address introduced a 13-year-old boy who had battled brain cancer and, more than anything else, wanted to be a law enforcement officer. So President Trump made him an honorary Secret Service agent. It was one of those rare moments in politics where partisanship should have taken a backseat.

Republicans stood and applauded. Democrats? They sat stone-faced. Democrats could have stood to honor a kid who beat cancer. They could have stood to acknowledge a moment of human triumph. But because it was Trump who introduced him, they refused. That’s not principled opposition — it’s petty and pathetic. Americans notice things like this.

For today’s Democrats, nothing matters more than hating Trump. That, my friends, is a crucial point in all of this. Hatred of Trump has become their go-to position on just about everything; it is what energizes them, motivates them and dictates what they say and do. 

There was plenty for Democrats not to like about Trump’s speech, which was needlessly partisan. But he was right about at least one thing. “I look at the Democrats in front of me,” Trump said “and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. I can find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations, or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded and these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.”

I suspect a lot of Americans watching that speech were nodding in agreement. I was — and I’m no fan of the president. 

This is what the Democratic Party has become. It’s no longer the party of the working class, the middle class or even mainstream liberals. It’s the party of coastal elites, radical activists and professional outrage machines. And it’s so consumed with hatred for Trump and his supporters that it’s lost touch with most Americans.

Instead of coming up with fresh ideas to show why they’re a reasonable, more rational alternative to Trump, what they’re doing is showing anyone paying attention why he won.

Democrats think Trump is the enemy. But the truth is, they are their own worst enemy.

Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him @BernardGoldberg.