From what we're seeing as Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media react to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk along with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) looking to expose and fix government waste, it would seem very clear that their concerns are indeed out of control. Worse for the Democrats is that it doesn't seem to be helping their party, on account of how their ratings are still dismally low, while views on the Republican Party are more evenly split. Beyond these elected officials beclowning themselves, though, there's more examples to look at on these supposed threats to democracy that Trump and Musk are feared to pose.
As we covered, Cygnal released their new poll on Tuesday, specifically their National Voter Trend (NVT) Survey, which had some record good marks for Trump. The poll also examined voters' priorities. At the very top was "Inflation and the economy," which 31.3 percent of voters said was the issue they believe Congress should make their top priority. In a distant second place was "Threats to democracy," at 17.9 percent. Despite such a gap, the poll noted how this was significant.
"Concern with threats to democracy is now at an all-time high, driven largely by voters on the left (35% of Democrats; 18% overall), with the issue passing its previous peak from last August," the poll's Insights & Analysis section highlighted with original emphasis.
In addition to the 35 percent of Democrats, there's 31 percent of college educated females who say it's their top concern, along with 36 percent of those who voted for now former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. In stark contrast, just 2 percent of Republicans, 1 percent of those who voted for Trump in 2024, and 0 percent of those who voted for nobody in 2020 but voted for Trump in 2024 say it's their top priority.
Brent Buchanan, the president of Cygnal, also spoke further to such poll findings in his daily takeaways for Wednesday. Speaking to how "The coasts seethe" and coverage from The Daily Beast on how "Supreme Court Justice Sounds Alarm Over Trump’s 'Monarchy' Power Grab," Buchanan had this to say:
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The Democrats are becoming further slaves to highly-educated coastal elites. This is proven by the fact that college-educated women shifted +13 to "threats to democracy" as their top issue. It's a luxury issue unrelatable to majority swaths of America. This majority elected Trump to do exactly what he's doing right now - dismantle government.
That's quite the way to put it, but Democrats are indeed "slaves to highly-educated coastal elites." Gone is the sense that Democrats are the party of the working people. It rang true when then President Joe Biden and his surrogates made such claims, and the 2024 election, with Trump's win in the Electoral College and with the popular vote showed that to be even more evident.
Buchanan also raises a fitting point in how worrying about supposed "threats to democracy," which is how it's "a luxury issue" and one that's "unrelatable to majority swaths of America." Other than those college educated females, Democrats, and those who voted for Harris last November, "Inflation and the economy" is the top priority that voters want Congress to focus on.
Trump is also indeed doing what he's been elected to do. Another poll, also this week from CBS News, found that 70 percent of Americans, whether they agree with him or not, believe that Trump is doing the "same things he promised in the campaign."
There's been plenty of conversations about executive power and the separation of powers when it comes to several judges ruling against Trump so early into his second term, especially as many of the judges involved are district court judges. The Daily Beast article at least references a justice from the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Such a body is almost certainly going to have to take on cases involving Trump and his actions, most importantly when it comes to the executive order that ends birthright citizenship and thus has to do with the 14th amendment. Three judges have so far blocked such a move.
As the article mentioned:
During an appearance at Florida’s Miami Dade College, she stressed—as justices, who must do their best to maintain the appearance of impartiality, do—that she was speaking in broad terms and did not mention Trump by name.
But Sotomayor’s remarks, at times, seemed like pointed responses to the new administration. The president argues he has a mandate to shutter government programs and agencies even if Congress has ordered them to be funded, and his allies blast any court that would get in his way.
...
Sotomayor said at the college: “Our founders were hellbent on ensuring that we didn’t have a monarchy and the first way they thought of that was to give Congress the power of the purse.”
...
Their criticisms have led to concerns among legal experts who worry that the Trump administration could openly defy the courts, and ignore congressional authority, in what could spill out into a full blown constitutional crisis.
“Court decisions stand, whether one particular person chooses to abide by them or not,” Sotomayor told the audience in Miami, when asked about maintaining the separation of powers between government branches. “It doesn’t change the foundation that it’s still a court order that someone will respect at some point.”
If the Trump administration’s appeals to recent rulings make their way to the Supreme Court, the government will make its case before the six-three Republican majority on the current bench.
We've heard plenty about this so-called "constitutional crisis" being created, including from folks at CNN online and on air, though Scott Jennings also reminded his fellow panelists during Monday night's episode of "CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip," how if anyone's creating such a crisis, it's those judges.
It's also particularly rich that Democratic allies in the mainstream media would now worry about such a crisis, when there was no such concern during the four years of the Biden administration, when it was clear that the president wasn' actually in charge and was experiencing a loss of mental faculties.
Although Sotomayor did not mention Trump by name, to give credit where it's due, we still likely know how she'll vote on cases involving the president, especially if it's not unanimous. She did, after all, write a completely unhinged dissent full of fearmongering last year when it comes to the July 1 decision on presidential immunity, Trump v. United States.
When it comes back to the phrasing from the poll in how Democrats and women educated at such a level want Congress to focus on these "threats," there are Democrats who are heeding that call, though they're doing it solely for their base it would seem, which is not exactly a winning issue for Democrats, including when it comes to the 2026 midterms. It's noteworthy that the Cygnal poll surveyed 2026 likely general election voters and spoke to other concerns for Democrats in the midterms, which usually help the party out of power, though that wasn't the case too much in 2022 with the red wave never materializing, and that may not be the case in 2026.
As the poll's takeaways also mentioned [emphasis original]:
- ...With the parties split more and more by education, black men’s rightward shift means Democrats are hard-pressed to find new supporters ahead of the midterm election, particularly in minority-dominated swing districts.
...
- The efforts by congressional Democrats to stall the new administration’s agenda are backfiring. Only 40% of voters have a favorable image of Democrats in Washington compared to 54% who hold an unfavorable viewof the caucuses led by Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.
- Favorability of congressional Republicans is split at 47% favorable, 48% unfavorable.
...
The GOP lead (R+1) on the 2026 generic congressional ballot continues to hold, and there’s room to grow, particularly with minority men. This was seen in November when Republicans down ballot, in many competitive U.S. Senate and U.S. House races underperformed Trump. Today, 48% of non-white men have a favorable image of Trump but give the generic congressional Republican just 41% of their vote. While they may be down on the Democrats, it’s still going to take work to bring them into the permanent GOP coalition.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Rep. Al Green (D-TX) are among those who have turned to performative tricks to oppose Trump and Musk, though fortunately for them, their seats are safe. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) continues to rant and rave against Trump and Musk herself, with a racist attitude, though her seat is perhaps the safest of all, since it's the most blue district in her state. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who is not only in leadership but in a safe seat as well, has promoted a bill against Musk, which DNC vice chairman David Hogg bragged about.
Perhaps the most recent and most ridiculous example comes from Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR), as Mia covered earlier on Wednesday. Prefacing her remarks in part with "I don't swear in public very well," she went on to say "we have to f**k Trump!" She also added, "Please don't tell my children that I just did that," though she perhaps should not have said it at all, then. While the freshman congresswoman is also from a blue district, and has also introduced legislation targeting Musk, having replaced a retiring congressman, that doesn't make it any better.
Whether their seats are safe or not, though, Democrats cannot expect such a strategy to help them for long, unless they plan to continue with their high unfavorable ratings and to remain in the minority.
NEW: Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) says, "I don't swear in public very well, but we have to f*ck Trump!" 😂
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) February 11, 2025
She's also introducing a bill that she admits is "probably not going to pass" to stop @elonmusk and @DOGE from exposing government waste, fraud, and corruption.
Bravo, dems! pic.twitter.com/pIgl1jAJ3a
