Since Trump’s election, the Democrats have tried to appear as an opposition to Trump and the Republicans. But it was the Democrat’s defense of the billionaires at the expense of working people that helped bring Trump to power. And now, after last week’s elections, the Democrats are trying to paint their election victories as another blow against Trump. But this isn’t true.
The Democrats won the elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia. They won California’s redistricting ballot measure, Proposition 50, which gave the Democrats new electoral maps that dilute the votes of prior Republican-dominated districts to favor the Democrats. And in New York City, Democrat Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor after running a popular campaign promising lower rent, free buses, cheaper groceries, and affordable childcare while calling himself a Democratic Socialist.
For the most part, the Democrats won because many people wanted a way to vote against Trump and voice their opposition to his policies. They are already trying to use these moderate victories to further channel people’s anger into the 2026 midterm elections, when they promise they will finally be able to put a stop to Trump’s agenda. The reality is, the Democrats certainly oppose many of Trump’s policies in words, but they defend the same class of billionaires and have the same priorities. Just look at the end to the recent government shutdown, where Democrats dragged out negotiations for weeks, only to cave at the last minute with no guarantees on extending health insurance subsidies, the one thing they said they were defending.
By passing Prop 50 in California, now the Democrats will have more power in the state to pass more of the same policies they’ve passed for decades. They refuse to tax the wealthiest to pay for affordable housing, education, or healthcare. Instead, they continuously cut funding for education, for health care subsidies for the poor, and they criminalize the homeless population. Despite Newsom’s posture against Trump using federal troops in Los Angeles, Newsom was the one who called out the National Guard against protestors back in 2020 during large protests against the murder of George Floyd. And now we’re supposed to feel relieved that the Democrats have redrawn the electoral map to favor themselves? This won’t help working people.
And there’s the election of Mamdani, who has made some appealing promises to the working class of New York. Who wouldn’t want affordable housing, childcare and free buses in the most expensive city in the country? Despite all of the opposition from Republicans, the Democratic Party leadership, and most of the wealthy elite who dominate the city of Wall Street, Mamdani still won, with the highest voter turnout in 56 years. Certainly Mamdani’s promises are a welcome relief compared to the usual message from politicians. But this wouldn’t be the first time a politician has made big promises only to carry out business as usual once in office. What will make this time any different?
Ultimately, for many of Mamdani’s promises to be carried out, it is going to come down to what the working class of New York City is willing to fight for. There will be a lot of opposition to his promises coming from both parties and the super-rich of New York City. Mamdani and his cabinet alone are not enough to stand up to this. It will depend on the masses of working-class New Yorkers and their ability to organize to defend their interests themselves.
The Democrats want us to believe that they have all the power to make the changes we need if we simply vote them in. The reality is, they have never done that. Every time they’ve been in office, especially at the state and federal level, they carry out business as usual and defend this system and its priorities. The Democrats have also cut social programs to favor the wealthy, targeted immigrants, sent federal troops to put down protests, given trillions of dollars to banks and corporations, skyrocketed military spending, and much more. They too, like the Republicans, prioritize the interests of corporations and their profits at the expense of the rest of us, even as the cost of living keeps skyrocketing. Ultimately, they may condemn Trump’s authoritarianism and claim they can stop it, but they defend the same system that allows it to grow in the first place.
So the way forward can’t just be waiting for the next election and hoping Democrats will save us. We’ve been down that road too many times. Real power comes from ordinary people organizing ourselves — at work, in schools, in our neighborhoods, and standing together and refusing to accept these attacks. We can’t rely on either party to fight for us. We have to build that power ourselves. Only then can we stop the attacks from Trump and the Democrats, who both defend this system. And only then can we fight for a future where our lives and needs actually come first.
