'Threat to the republic': How Trump squandered good will and sent Dems into resistance

Some critics of President Donald Trump are wondering why his narrow victory in the 2024 election wasn't followed by an outspoken "resistance" or the type of large protests that followed his victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.

But New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, during an appearance on The Bulwark's vodcast posted on February 7, argued that Democrats are now in "resistance mode."

"After Democrats lost in 2024," Klein told host Tim Miller, "they were psychologically pretty shattered. And there were quite a few of them who were willing to say, 'OK, this is a new world. This time, the American public voted for Donald Trump fair and square. We have to work with this'…. And everything Trump has done has been a giant middle finger to them personally, to make them look like idiots personally."

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Klein argued that if Trump had entered the White House with a "different strategy," Democrats would be willing to "work with him."

"And now," Klein told Never Trump conservative and former GOP strategist Miller — "Trump has gone into a place where he is threatening, both in their view and objectively, the structure of American government itself. I think he is a fairly weak president but is acting like a strong king."

According to Klein, Democrats who told Trump, "We are willing to work with you" after he won the election have "moved into opposition and resistance mode."

Klein told Miller, "Whatever possible quanta of good will he had… is gone…. (Democrats) have moved into 'He is a threat to the republic mode.'"

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Watch Tim Miller's interview with Ezra Klein below or at this link.