Trump's Greatest Stroke of Luck Is Democratic Cowardice

Tyranny does not need a genius, it only needs opponents who look away. Donald Trump strings together impeachable offenses the way other people make grocery lists, and the Democratic leadership sits still. Even his megalomaniacal narcissism can probably barely believe this kind of luck. He reads their silence as permission to spend more than two more years grinding down the lives and livelihoods of millions.

It is cowardice, and I am calling it by name and office. Hakeem Jeffries manages defeat instead of attacking. Ninety percent of his own voters want impeachment, and he does not want to "get ahead of that discussion," a discussion his own people have already settled. His staff let it be known that they did not know how it would play politically. An opposition that wants to know the outcome before it fights is a spectator at the circus.

Jeffries in the House and Senator Chuck Schumer in the Senate have turned resistance into a sitting circle. They weigh polls where determination is called for and treat the Constitution like a risk best avoided. But a president tests every day how far he is allowed to go, and he finds no wall. Trump delivers the ammunition right to their door and laughs while doing it: "This is just the beginning." Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, led two proceedings, both as gestures without conviction. In 2019, she put the extortion of Ukraine for investigations into Hunter Biden to a vote, even though she knew the necessary two-thirds majority in the Senate was not there, while leaving more clear-cut offenses untouched. In 2021, after the January 6 attack on the Capitol and the attempt to overturn the 2020 election, the same picture: impeachment in the House, acquittal by cowardly senators. In his second term came criminal indictments and a felony conviction. Women sued him in civil court over sexual misconduct. On January 20, 2025, Trump was already governing through unlawful executive orders, enforced with Elon Musk's notorious DOGE. Much of it amounted to high crimes and misdemeanors under the Constitution, and nobody with power drew the conclusion.

One man hit the mark. Texas Congressman Al Green brought a motion to impeach Trump directly to the House of Representatives on June 24, 2025, to explain to the country why Trump deserved a "You're fired." His own leadership pulled him back. At the same time, Trump called for the execution of six members of Congress who had reminded soldiers of their right to refuse unlawful orders. The more outrageous he becomes, the quieter the party that is supposed to confront him gets.

That is why Washington is filled with a silence that looks like consent. The news media has little to report, hardly anyone hears about the many citizen initiatives demanding impeachment, and the world sees an entire country as resigned. Leading editorial writers assemble the case week after week and then lose the word impeachment at the end like a set of keys. They write about the damage to Americans' health and about his interference in elections, but when worried readers ask what should actually be done, they go silent. There is even a second route available: Under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, Congress itself could determine that the president is unable to carry out the duties of his office. And when lawmakers themselves want to organize hearings, Jeffries and Schumer, according to our reporting, put the brakes on that too.

Cowardice is power's oldest ally, older than any party. It demands nothing, it simply fails to act, and that failure signs every blank check a ruler takes for himself. The evidence piles up day after day, and the hearing that is denied turns the act into a shared responsibility. Where does the cowardice come from? From fear of Trump's retaliation, I suspect, and from the arrogance of comfortable poll numbers that assumes November will simply fall into their lap as long as they quietly count money from lobbying groups and corporations. A few words about the cost of living, and whatever you do, do not make a promise that would actually tell people what the party stands for. Maybe it is also the fear that Trump could throw their own unconstitutional wars back in their faces. Every one of those explanations is an excuse wearing a tie.

Others pay the price for what this silence buys. Trump gets to harm millions at home and abroad and undermine preparations for climate and pandemic disasters. He holds renewable energy down and courts the fossil fuel industry. His forces spread through the cities, and he treats children with deliberate cruelty. The suffering of many becomes a footnote for a party saving its strength for the next fundraiser. How deeply he is lining his own pockets while in office remains unanswered, with estimates putting it at $1.1 million for every working hour. Democrats and frightened Republicans drove Richard Nixon from office in 1974 for far less than Trump does in a single week.

Cowardice in the Face of Enemies of Democracy Is Not Just an American Problem

So resignations must be demanded, and people with backbone must finally be put at the top of the Democratic Party. This tyrant's most loyal ally is cowardice, and it sits inside the opposition's own ranks. We keep going relentlessly and we will not be intimidated by this regime. What needs to be exposed will be exposed. Democracy is the serious form of defending itself, right-wing populism the worst form of destroying democracy. And this problem does not stop at America's borders: Germany, too, is showing how quickly democracy can be damaged when its enemies act with more determination than its defenders. Maybe more people in Saxony-Anhalt will start today: They will put their mark next to democracy and refuse to give it to the fascists.