Democrats don’t hate Trump... they want to be him, mimicking his style but failing to connect with voters, exposing their desperation and lack of authenticity...
By now, everyone and his brother is familiar with Trump Derangement Syndrome, that particular pathology that drives liberals and even many conservatives absolutely batty. Not only does Trump drive his opponents and detractors to fits of apoplexy, but he also compels them to make foolish statements and to embrace positions they would otherwise never even consider. During Trump’s first presidency, at the height of the COVID panic, the left openly and ardently dismissed a vaccine as partisan quackery. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, then running against Trump, openly warned that “his” vaccine was not to be trusted, that they would be hesitant to take it, and that they were sure the experts would not recommend it. As soon as they hit 270 electoral votes, however, that vaccine was suddenly the greatest thing in the history of ever, and you better take it…or else! And while there are good and just reasons to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, it is almost inarguable that the American Left’s obsession with the war, with Ukraine, and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a byproduct of its belief that Donald Trump is on Putin’s side and, therefore, they must do precisely the opposite. Whatever he likes, they hate. Whatever he supports, they oppose. Whatever he says, they say the opposite. And so it has been for roughly a decade now.
Lately, however, a new Trump-related syndrome has begun to manifest among his opponents, one that is equally potent, equally idiocy-inducing, and equally self-defeating. This new syndrome has been prevalent among Democrats for the last several months at least, but only recently has it clearly distinguished itself from all the Democrats’ other pathologies. The key moment in the diagnosis of this syndrome came just the other night, when Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D, TX) spoke at a banquet in Los Angeles and referred to her state’s Governor Greg Abbott as “Governor Hot Wheels.” Abbott, of course, is wheelchair-bound after a freak accident 41 years ago left him paralyzed. Crockett insisted that she meant no offense and adamantly refused to apologize.
In the several days since the incident, critics have pilloried the Congresswoman, who had already been in the news for her brash, combative, and tacky approach to dealing with the second Trump team. Some have said that she deserves to be censured. Others have chalked her stupidity up to the above-mentioned Trump Derangement Syndrome. Still others cheer her on and hope that she remains the face of the Democratic Party for a long time to come, laughing at how terribly her antics play with ordinary voters. All of these folks have valid cases, to some degree or another, yet all seem to have missed the larger point here. Jasmine Crockett isn’t acting like this because she’s mad at Trump or because he’s driven her crazy. She’s acting this way because she admires him, at last subconsciously, and she wants to be like him, to capture some of his winning lightning in Democrats’ losing bottle.
This isn’t a case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. It’s a case of Trump Wannabe Syndrome (TWS™).
It isn’t just Crockett. Ever since Trump and Vance won last November, Democrats have been swearing, snarling, and trying to be as crude as possible. A few weeks back, in a premeditated publicity stunt, Arizona Senator (and former astronaut) Mark Kelly (D) filmed himself with his Tesla and whined about how he could no longer stand to drive the car. Once upon a time, he said, it felt like a “rocket” to him, but now he didn’t want it around because it was “built and designed by an a**hole,” meaning DOGE boss Elon Musk. “Wow,” he assumed we’d all say, “such tough talk from an otherwise staid and cautious guy. He must be really fed up!” No one actually cared, of course, but Kelly likely didn’t realize that. He’s a Democrat, after all, which is to say that he doesn’t have a whole lot of contact with actual rank-and-file voters.
Therein lies the rub for Democrats. They see Trump out there swearing and using vulgar vernacular and maybe, once in a while, even making fun of disabled people. And then they see him winning, winning big, and winning among their erstwhile constituencies. And they think to themselves, “I can do that too, you know! In fact, I can do it better than he does it!” So, they try. And they fail. And the voters cringe.
What the Democrats don’t understand is that Trump’s appeal has nothing to do with being crass. There is no doubt that he is crass sometimes, but that’s a function of his personality. It just flows from him, and while it may make the cocktail-party set wince a bit, it nevertheless fits him and seems perfectly natural.
Like all supremely successful politicians, Trump has a gift, an uncanny ability to connect with people in a way that transcends politics and ideology. Ronald Reagan had the gift. Bill Clinton had it too. Even Barack Obama, the Condescender-in-Chief, showed flashes of the gift on occasion.
It’s worth noting that the gift is not something one can fake, learn, or imitate. You either have it or you don’t.
Jasmine Crockett doesn’t have it.
Mark Kelly doesn’t have it.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t have it.
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer sure as heck don’t have it.
And the more they try to fake it, the more grotesque and cringeworthy they appear.
Love him or hate him, Donald Trump represents something extraordinary in American politics. His connection to average voters, in spite of his vast fortune and privileged life, is as remarkable as it is inexplicable. His Democratic opponents have lost their ability to connect to average folks through policy and rhetoric, and they want desperately to recapture what they once had. Rather than put in the hard work of listening to voters and resisting special interest groups, however, they seek a quick fix.
They seek what Donald Trump has. They don’t hate him. They want to be him when they grow up.
