The Democrats 'resigned to a second Trump presidency'

There are just under four months to go before the 2024 presidential campaign. Have Democrats already given up on winning? Maybe. "We've all resigned ourselves to a second Trump presidency," an anonymous Democrat told Axios, after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. That quote produced an angry reaction from not-so-anonymous Democrats, said The Guardian. "If you're a 'senior Democrat' that feels this way you should absolutely retire and make space for true leadership that refuses to resign themselves to fascism," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on social media. 

But other observers also wonder if Trump's near-miss cemented a November victory. "The presidential contest ended last night," another unnamed Democratic consultant told NBC News. The pushback has been fierce. "Get a grip, Democrats, you can still win this," said Bill Scher at Washington Monthly. The events of 2024 have already been wildly unpredictable. Who's to say what happens between now and November? "Political professionals," Scher said, "should know better than to predict defeat four months before Election Day."

'The ship is going down'

"It's hard to see any way out for the Democrats," Matthew Continetti said at National Review. Even before the assassination attempt, the party's divisions over President Joe Biden were already on display after his disastrous debate performance against Trump. Stick with Biden and the party heads into November "with an unpopular incumbent the public believes is too old for the job." If Biden steps aside, he'll be replaced by an "unknown and untested candidate." Bottom line? "The ship is going down."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Democratic defeatism is "sad and pathetic," Jonathan Chait said at New York magazine. The party is apparently responding to the attack on Trump by "standing down its efforts to deny him office." That's reminiscent of the days and weeks after 9/11, when Democrats decided that national unity meant praising President George W. Bush instead of holding him accountable for failing to prevent the attacks. "The result of this dangerously unbalanced equation was a comprehensive political and moral disaster." The same will happen if Democrats abdicate now. 

Trump: Not a 'normal politician'

"The 2024 presidential election is not over yet," Gideon Rachman said at Financial Times. It's true that a "normal politician" could expect to pick up sympathy votes in the wake of a failed assassination. Donald Trump is not a normal politician. "Millions of 'never Trump' voters are unlikely to become 'Yes Trumpers,' however appalled they are by the vile attempted murder." The biggest factor going forward is probably not the shooting, but concerns about Biden's age. That's the "most probable game-changer in the 2024 election." 

Biden may have actually gotten a reprieve, Andrew Prokop said at Vox. "Trump's shooting has knocked Biden's fate out of the headlines." For the two weeks leading up to the shocking violence, talk of the president's age and electoral fate dominated the news. That's over, for the moment. "It's far too early to write off an election that is months away." That's the good news. But the defeatism of Democrats does accomplish one thing: "It helps Biden hang on."