Resistance to Trump? What resistance?

(New York) On November 9, 2016, the day after Donald Trump's first electoral victory, Teresa Shook, a grandmother from Hawaii, channeled her anger and frustration by inviting a few dozen Facebook friends to accompany her in Washington in January, to protest against the inauguration of this new president, accused of misogyny and xenophobia by his critics.

The invitation spread like wildfire across the internet and led to the Women's March, the largest demonstration in American history, on January 21, 2017. That day, between 3 and 5 million people took to the streets in several cities, including more than 1 million in Washington. Solidarity demonstrations also took place in several other countries.

It was the beginning of what was called “the resistance,” a movement launched by progressive Democrats that eventually brought together independents and moderate Republicans. During the 2018 midterm elections, the latter would contribute to a “blue wave” which should allow the Democrats to achieve a net gain of 41 seats in the House of Representatives and regain the majority there.

Before getting there, “the resistance”, accompanied by a hashtag on social networks, had mobilized in particular to help Muslims targeted by the new president's migration policy, to protect Barack's health law Obama and convince a record number of women to run for office.

In the aftermath of a second electoral victory for Donald Trump, is resistance 2.0 on the horizon? According to some headlines, such a scenario is doubtful.

“The #Resistance is futile,” headlined the Puck news site. “The resistance will not come to save you. She’s disconnecting,” argued Politico, a competing site. “Trump continues to troll as the ‘resistance’ fades,” said the Wall Street Journal above an opinion piece signed by Peggy Noonan.

2016 and 2024, two realities

One thing is certain: the Democrats' reaction to the 2024 electoral verdict is very different from that of 2016. Even if Donald Trump's first victory took everyone by surprise, or almost, it was not as indisputable as the second.

In fact, the real estate developer lost the popular vote by 2 percentage points. And he had benefited from the help not only of Russia, which had orchestrated the hacking and distribution of Democratic Party emails, but also of FBI Director James Comey, who had relaunched the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails. 11 days before the election.

In 2024, Donald Trump didn't just win the popular vote. He also made gains among voters who have long been won over by Democrats – and for whom they say they are fighting – namely working-class black men and Latinos.

Since November 5, much of the media and political commentary has therefore focused on the shortcomings of the Democratic Party rather than on the need to organize “resistance 2.0”.

This victory for Donald Trump and the Democratic recriminations that accompanied it pushed many Kamala Harris voters to unplug, as Politico reported. MSNBC, one of the Democrats' favorite channels, saw its audience drop by half in the days following the vice-president's defeat.

Others have decided to migrate from X, Elon Musk's platform, to Bluesky, preferring to take refuge under a blue sky where politics is not (yet) a contact sport.

A hint of hope?

But resistance is being organized, despite headlines that claim otherwise. Two days after the election of Donald Trump, 137,000 people participated in a conference call on Zoom organized by the group Indivisible, founded in reaction to the 2016 electoral verdict, and the Working Families Party. Some 8,000 people have committed to organizing local meetings.

“I thought everyone had tuned out,” host Chris Hayes said on a recent episode of WITHpodhis podcast show.

“That’s what I thought too,” retorted her guest, Anna Galland, former director of MoveOn Civic Action, who participated in the meeting on Zoom. “We hypothesized about what might happen after the election. And so far, I'm very happily surprised. »

Ditto for Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something, another group born after the 2016 election, which recruits and trains young progressive candidates. Since the November 5 vote, more than 8,000 people have contacted his organization to express their interest in running for office, more than half the number of people who did so during all of 2017.

For their part, Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg, of the group Indivisible, updated the guide they published in 2016 to guide the efforts of American citizens wishing to block Donald Trump's program.

In the new guide, the couple immediately recognizes that the return of Donald Trump does not bode well. But he refuses to despair.

“Trump wants to rule like a dictator, but he has the smallest possible majority in the House of Representatives and a very unpopular agenda. Win an election with 49.9% of the vote [de ceux qui ont voté] does not make him a dictator for life and does not make Project 25 the law of the land,” the pair wrote.

And added: “There is a lot we don’t know about what to do. We will have to learn and experiment as we go. »

In the meantime, a demonstration called People's March is planned in Washington on January 18, two days before the inauguration of Donald Trump. The event will perhaps give an idea of ​​the resistance to be expected by the 47^e President, if there is resistance.