Democrats need to tie Trump's corruption to people's lives

Donald Trump's first term was filled with evidence of his corruption, but his second term has been orders of magnitude worse. His net worth has reportedly increased by billions of dollars since he returned to office. His crypto venture is a large part of that, and those who invest in his cryptocurrency often receive favors from the president, including pardons.

Trump is trying to extract nearly $2 billion from the federal government for allies he claims were targeted by the Biden administration, including January 6th insurrectionists. Meanwhile, he's building a golden ballroom and an arch in Washington, D.C. that no one asked for.

All of this is happening at a time when Americans are paying high prices for gas and groceries. Much of that is due to the war in Iran that Trump started for dubious reasons. Millions of Americans have also lost their health insurance since Trump took office.

What Democrats need to do in the face of what's happening here is tie all of this together. There are often debates in Washington over whether Democrats should focus on affordability or Trump's corruption or whatever issue seems worth raising. It's become clear over the past year or so that Democrats need to combine some issues. It's not just that Trump is corrupt; it's that Trump's corruption is making your life worse.

Why don't you have health insurance anymore? Trump is taking all of the money for ICE, his ballroom and his wars. You're paying more for everything you buy, and Trump is raking in money. Democrats must draw a clear line between these things.

Some Democrats are already doing this. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been making this connection for a while now. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) has also been doing this recently. They've shown you can simply and easily demonstrate how one thing affects the other.

There is research that shows this kind of messaging works against right-wing authoritarians. People often assume politicians are corrupt, so highlighting that Trump is especially corrupt isn't enough. You have to personalize it, which means connecting what's being taken from the public in general to how this is currently affecting the individual. Trump is corrupt and lawless, and you're paying the price.

This strategy worked very well recently in Hungary. Viktor Orbán was the extremely corrupt authoritarian leader of that country for many years, and he was defeated by a man named Péter Magyar. The Magyar campaign put a lot of energy into tying Orbán's corruption to the daily struggles of regular Hungarians, and he soundly defeated Orbán.

I think it's important that Democrats utilize similar tactics. If you just say he's extremely corrupt, the voters will probably wave that off. They're at least partially aware of that. If you just say prices are high, they might not understand what is behind that. You can pull these things together and really engage people.

I recently did a YouTube video focused on an effort by AOC and other Democrats to document and demonstrate Trump's corruption, if you're interested in watching that. Please subscribe to the channel.