Elites won’t lead the opposition to Trump.
By elites, I mean politicians, business leaders, decision-makers at media outlets, etc. There’s a growing frustration in people I talk to and the conversation online that our leaders aren’t leading. They aren’t meeting the moment. They aren’t where the rest of us who oppose Trump are at right now.
I understand the frustration. But I also don’t think we should be relying on these folks and institutions in the first place. As my friend Greg Greene wrote here about the opposition a few weeks ago, “Spoiler alert, you’re it.” If we have any chance of opposing MAGA and stopping Elon Musk’s crime spree, it’s on us to be out front and create a public groundswell and uprising. If we can manage that, many elites will likely follow our lead.
Elites aren’t incentivized to oppose Trump right now, and some are making it clear they don’t appreciate being pressured. MAGA comes hard for its enemies, and members of Congress, in particular, dealt with that firsthand at the Capitol four years ago. The threats of violence and harassment are effective, especially once you’ve seen friends and colleagues go through it up close. Business leaders are looking for ways not to piss off the Trump Administration, and many are comfortable with paying the financial or social bribes necessary to keep greasing the wheels. I’m sure many have simply made the calculation that they can ride Trump’s reign of terror out, or have an escape plan ready for when things go south.
To be clear, I’m not saying this to defend anyone. The failures of leadership and courage are maddening. But I think it’s important to understand what’s motivating elites and to understand just how much public pressure is necessary to get them, especially elected officials, to stick their necks out. I’m so glad organizations like Indivisible exist and create space for folks to self-organize and build collective power. Public pressure, especially from constituents on elected officials, is crucial.
It’s also not enough. MAGA has declared the rules, laws, and norms Americans have relied on for almost 250 years no longer apply. On Saturday, Donald Trump tweeted, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.“ The White House account tweeted the exact text as a meme not long after.
They’re moving as fast as they can to break the system and steal everything they can manage to get their hands on. An article in Foreign Affairs puts our reality and the cost of opposing MAGA into stark and sobering terms. You should read the whole thing, but I want to highlight this excerpt:
Competitive authoritarianism will transform political life in the United States. As Trump’s early flurry of dubiously constitutional executive orders made clear, the cost of public opposition will rise considerably: Democratic Party donors may be targeted by the IRS; businesses that fund civil rights groups may face heightened tax and legal scrutiny or find their ventures stymied by regulators. Critical media outlets will likely confront costly defamation suits or other legal actions as well as retaliatory policies against their parent companies. Americans will still be able to oppose the government, but opposition will be harder and riskier, leading many elites and citizens to decide that the fight is not worth it. A failure to resist, however, could pave the way for authoritarian entrenchment—with grave and enduring consequences for global democracy.
The cost of opposing Trump has never been higher, and it will continue to rise. However, as many have pointed out, Trump is also a weak president in a weak position. He’s unable to accomplish much through legislation and seems to have handed over the business of governing entirely to Elon Musk and his DOGE squad of criminals. We’re neither powerless nor out of options.
We have to think bigger than pressuring elected officials and elites to take action. I know that federal workers have been holding it down in DC with protests and demonstrations, and there’s growing action and activity in the states as well. Over the weekend, my family went to one of the 37 #TeslaTakeover protests outside of Tesla dealerships organized across the US. More than 60 people came, an incredible turnout for something organized in less than a week.
Now is the time to start showing up, making connections, and organizing in your community. On Monday, protests are planned for every State Capitol and many cities and communities across the US by #50501 Fifty FiftyOne Protests.
We don’t need to activate every American or even most Americans, but a critical mass is necessary. We also need to get creative. Especially since we know how powerless folks are feeling right now. New ideas and strategies have never been needed more than they are now.
Zach Beauchamp, who covers the right for Vox, wrote his own take on how to stop Trump’s power grab, using examples from protest movements in other countries. Beauchamp’s first plank is that the Democratic minority in Congress will not be effective in taking the lead. He’s also realistic about what philanthropy and the courts can and can’t do in the face of this and the likelihood the Trump administration will choose to ignore court rulings against it. Beauchamp concludes:
This is the Achilles’ heel of a delay strategy. But there is an answer to it: a massive, society-wide mobilization. Millions-strong protests, government officials refusing to work en masse, threats of general strikes: These are the kinds of radical actions that become necessary when an executive declares that the law simply doesn’t apply to it.
READ: Why Federal Courts Are Unlikely to Save Democracy from Trump’s and Musk’s Attacks
This is what we need to build towards and prepare for. It’s not the level of opposition that’s in America’s current muscle memory and not the kind of mobilization that will spring up overnight. But it’s where things are headed.
I don’t want to romanticize a massive resistance movement. The risk of putting your body and resources on the line in non-violent direct action is real, and as I said earlier, the cost of opposing Trump has never been higher. Realistically, I also don’t think we can mount an effective opposition and stop MAGA’s theft, harm, and destruction without things reaching a fever pitch. We’re not there yet, but I’m hopeful that we can be.
This kind of mass social movement doesn’t come from the leaders whose names we know but the ones who are emerging right now. The folks activating their friends, families, and neighbors across the country. Engaging in conversations, offering mutual aid, and organizing their communities. Starting small but thinking about the big picture constantly. Building community and collective power together.
This is an excerpt from Ctrl Alt-Right Delete, a newsletter produced in partnership with COURIER — a civic media company. It was republished with the author’s permission. Subscribe HERE.
