IdeaLog

To respond to Trump, simplify your messages

Posted on February 18, 2025

There is too much going on and people are overwhelmed by it. If you want to have any impact at all, don’t try to answer everything. Group issues together and respond broadly.

Keep in mind that we don’t need to persuade our base, they are as appalled as we are. Your messages must be designed for persuadable Americans, the folks who very narrowly chose Trump or stayed home. These are low-information voters who get their political information mostly or entirely from social media. They require very, very simple messages.

Here are five messages you can use.

1. It’s illegal. Trump is breaking the law. A President does not have the authority to close a federal agency set up by Congress. Congress has to pass legislation in order to close the Department of Education, for example. And unless Republicans abolish the filibuster, they will never have the votes to pass it through the Senate. In fact, it’s unlikely to pass the House either.

Attacking birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional. Trump’s proposed ethnic cleansing of Gaza would be a war crime. The justification for dismissal of the Eric Adams case is pure political corruption. Almost everything Musk has done so far is illegal, or at least unlawful. He’s not even a federal officer or employee! There is no legal justification for many or most of Trump’s executive orders.

Will the Supreme Court eventually let Trump get away with his illegalities? Who knows? Right now, we must explain that a president is not a dictator; he cannot legally violate federal law. Our side needs to file dozens or hundreds of lawsuits and do the best we can to preserve the United States. Most judges are still loyal to the Constitution and the rule of law.

2. It’s racist. Please stop saying “DEI” entirely. When Trump and MAGA say “DEI,” they mean the N-word. They are not opposed to diversity or equity or inclusion, they are opposed to black and brown people. It is racism. It is a violation of civil rights. If we don’t call out their racism, low information voters will never understand.

3. It’s a giveaway to the billionaires. Virtually everything Trump and Musk have done or plan to do are giveaways to the billionaires. They’re going to cut taxes for billionaires. They are in the process of eliminating regulators and regulations for the billionaires. Nothing could be clearer. Somehow Democrats have forgotten that billionaires are unpopular, that nobody—not Democrats or Republicans or low-information voters—favors giveaways to the billionaires.

4. It won’t help you or your family. Trump offers no policies that are going to help average Americans. He doesn’t care about them in the slightest. And yet, this is the most important talking point in all of politics. People want to know whether a policy is going to help them personally. You have got to tell them: “no, you’re not going to get any benefit, it’s all a giveaway to the billionaires.” Just for a start, it’s average consumers who are going to pay for the tariffs, right?

5. A Republican recession is coming. Let us be realistic. Firing people increases unemployment. Tariffs raise prices. Stopping federal programs also stops federal purchases from U.S. manufacturers and farmers. Cuts in federal healthcare programs will put hospitals out of business, especially in red states. If Musk were to stop $1 trillion in federal spending, that stops $1 trillion from going into our economy in salaries, products and services. Businesses need stability in order to plan their own growth. In times of chaos, which is what Trump has created, businesses hold onto their money and wait. He’s already scared the Fed into not lowering interest rates. This is a recipe for recession. We might as well start blaming them for it now.