Do you remember the liberal meltdowns after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton for the presidency in 2016?
There were huge “P-hat” demonstrations (riots), widespread outrage, and unhinged commentary from the corrupt media. Now, we still see that today, some eight years later, as Trump won yet again, but it’s not the same.
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There’s a feeling of defeat emanating from the left.
Mostly, we see videos of mentally disturbed Democrats losing their stuff on social media and misty-eyed anchors at MSNBC and CNN still trying to tell us our Democracy is in peril (their ratings prove that few are listening anymore), but we haven’t seen any serious coordinated reaction.
The thrill is gone, according to Axios:
While President-elect Trump’s 2016 win sparked shock, outrage and massive protests, the response to his 2024 victory has been more muted.
The big picture: 2016 birthed The Resistance, a political movement to protest Trumpism online and in the streets. There’s still plenty of resistance to Trump across the country, but little mass mobilization.
- That could change as Trump moves to implement his agenda. But experts and activists expect the renewed resistance to come in different forms.
Flashback: Trump won in 2016 despite trailing in the polls, and within weeks of the infamous Access Hollywood tape and multiple sexual assault allegations.
But for now, “The Resistance” just plain seems to have lost its mojo:
This time Democratic voters, particularly women, were just as disappointed but less shocked, says Lisa Mueller, a political science professor at Macalester College.
- “So they didn’t have the same acute trigger to rush to the barricades that they did the first time,” says Mueller, who studies why social movements succeed or fail. “It’s very likely that there is some disillusionment with activism.”