'Take back the mantle': Democrats said to have plan to 'call Trump's bluff'
A group of Democrats reportedly has a plan to "call Trump's bluff."
Politico recently reported about a "change in strategy" for Democratic lawmakers, saying, "Progressive Democrats wrestling with how to navigate a second Donald Trump presidency are settling on a new approach: Take his populist, working-class proposals at his word — or at least pretend to."
"If he succeeds, they can take some credit for bringing him to the table. If he doesn’t, they can bash him for it," the Monday report says.
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According to MSNBC political analyst Zeeshan Aleem, this amounts to calling Trump's bluff.
"In other words, progressives are angling to call Trump’s populist bluff," Aleem wrote Thursday. "For the most part calling Trump’s populist bluff could help expose the fraudulence of his campaign promises."
Aleem continued:
"Deciding how to walk the line between resistance and effective governance is always a complicated endeavor — all the more so when the party in power threatens to try to unravel democracy. But as a starting strategy it’s a smart approach that could position progressives to expose the false promises of right-wing populism as a salve for the working class."
Aleem went on to express a tone of cautious optimism that it could "be a win-win for progressives."
"Republicans will be calling the shots, with control of the White House and Congress, but Democrats need to be leading demands for policies that protect working people from corporate exploitation," Aleem wrote. "In the event that Trump and the Republicans do try to pass policies that protect working people from corporate exploitation, Democrats must be situated to take credit for leading the agenda and be ready to credit Republicans for taking a break from the policy agenda of billionaires and bigots."