Trump is President - Will Democrats Fight Back?

Trump used outrage to manipulate the American people into voting for him. Thom Hartmann explains how the Democratic Party can use the same strategy to fight Trump. MORE FROM THOM 📃 Thom's Hartmann's 'Daily Take' Newsletter: https://HartmannReport.com 🎦 Watch a full program re-run anytime: https://www.patreon.com/thomhartmann 🎧 Audio Podcast: https://thom.tv FOLLOW THOM 📕 AMAZON: https://amzn.to/2hS4UwY 📝 DAILY TAKE: https://hartmannreport.com 👥 FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ThomHartmannProgram/ 📸 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/Thom_Hartmann 🎦 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/thomhartmann 🐦 X: https://www.twitter.com/thom_hartmann Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hartmannreport.com 🌐 WEBSITE: https://www.thomhartmann.com 📺 YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=thomhartmann 👕 Merchandise: https://teespring.com/stores/thom-hartmann-program-2 🍺 Thom Merchandise: https://teespring.com/thom-hartmann-mug?pid=522&cid=101870 ABOUT THE PROGRAM The Thom Hartmann Program is the leading progressive political talk radio show for political news and comments about Government politics, be it Liberal or Conservative, plus special guests and callers. #MoreFromThom ✔ Amazon links are affiliate links TRANSCRIPT How Republicans weaponize fear—and really anger and hate even more than fear—to win: As we are speaking right now, as you're listening to me at this very moment, Republicans are promoting a “fire hose of lies” about the fires in Los Angeles. It’s gotten so bad that Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, had to create a website to push back against these lies. These are wild claims, such as: The Los Angeles Fire Department is using women’s handbags to gather water to fight the blaze because they ran out of equipment after sending it to Ukraine. This is a lie. Los Angeles County fire hydrants ran out of water because the county refused to fill reservoirs. Not only is this a lie, but a day before the wildfire began, the Los Angeles Fire Department had filled all available water system tanks—114 throughout the city, including three 1-million-gallon tanks in the Pasadena Palisades area. Why do Republicans do this? Because they understand the power of grievance. Grievance is one of the most powerful political forces out there, and Republicans have been using it ever since Barack Obama got into the White House. They’ve been using it long before that. Reagan weaponized grievance against Black people with the “welfare queen” narrative, but it kicked into high gear during Obama’s presidency. The birther conspiracy, for instance, was grievance after grievance after grievance. There’s a neurological reason grievance is so powerful: it’s tied to our need for safety. Grievance is about feeling wronged or having something taken from you. The right-wing grievance machine exploits this relentlessly: “Gays are going to convert your kids.” “Immigrants are going to kill or rape your wife.” “Schools are going to cut off your son’s penis.” “Haitians in Springfield are going to eat your cat.” “Poor people are stealing your tax dollars through welfare payments.” “Empowered women will deny you sex.” “Jews are funding Hispanics to take your job.” “Joe Biden is causing inflation.” “Democrats want to take away your car.” “Black people are taking jobs that rightfully belong to white men.” “Woke teachers are training white children to feel guilt for their relatives’ actions.” “The deep state is making your life miserable through overregulation.” These are all lies, but they have been turned into major grievances aired constantly by the right-wing grievance machine: Fox News, right-wing hate radio, podcasts, social media, and algorithms. Grievance works. Hitler harnessed grievance. The Confederates harnessed grievance. Even George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson used grievance with “taxation without representation.” Grievance can also be used for good. The #MeToo movement used grievance to create real change. Black Lives Matter used grievance to bring about positive reforms. Bernie Sanders nearly became president by channeling grievances about billionaire corruption. Martin Luther King Jr. used grievance to transform America. Grievance can be used for good or bad. Timothy Snyder has been promoting an idea I’ve discussed on this program for at least a decade: the concept of a shadow cabinet. Democrats need to appoint individuals to shadow each position in Trump’s cabinet. Every time someone in Trump’s cabinet does or says something foolish, the shadow cabinet member can call a press conference and respond. Democrats need to learn to harness grievance, start complaining loudly, and go on the offense. Enough of this “good government” approach or “let’s do the people’s work.” It’s time to go to war.