Donald Trump's opponents were reprimanded Monday for meeting his election victory with a seemingly quiet resignation.
Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid wrote the anti-Trump "resistance" needs to awaken — and not roll over and accept what's coming.
"If this is what the fight against fascism looks like, it’s not much of a fight," he lamented on Monday morning. "It sounds more like a dishonorable surrender. The shift away from 'existential' rhetoric is welcome: The challenge of democracy, as I have written, is one of coming to terms with frightening electoral outcomes."
Also Read: There is no 'waiting it out'
Hamid questioned the "sudden softening" of many Democrats who have gone quiet over the threat that Trump poses to American democracy,
He shamed the hyperbole Democrats used during the 2024 election cycle that now "appear[s] strangely subdued."
"Emotions of despair are different from those of hope," continued Hamid. "Hope spurs action. Despair more often leads to retreat. In this vein, a growing number of former activists are proposing rest and self-care as better, saner propositions than political action."
He cited activist David Hogg, one of the Parkland school shooting survivors, who wrote: “We’ve marched so much. We’re tired of doing the same thing over and over.”
There's a fear that protests won't work, continues Hamid, and the power of the people isn't "powerful" anymore.
For those exhausted over years of fighting back against the Tea Party and then MAGA, it makes sense to take some personal mental health time, he said.
"Despite how it might feel in this moment, there is no shame in defeat, and there should be no embarrassment in pulling back, even if temporarily. Life is too short, but it is also long," he says.
But he added it's important for Trump's victory to prompt reflection on 2024 mistakes and build better strategies for the future, and he suggested that it's time for activists to get up off the mat and begin a better persuasion campaign, even if it will be a slog.
"That’s the more difficult work, since there will be no immediate gratification to be found," Hamid wrote.
