Good morning all. Sending along my weekly talk last night to our paid subscribers. A video recording is above and a written transcript is here. It is was a lively session, and we covered a lot of ground. So get to it when you can. I think there is a lot in here that will be helpful to you……
In this post I want to drill down on a piece of what we talked about last night - that Trump has become weak, and now we must become strong.
As we discussed last night I think Trump is rotting, his powers are ebbing, his regime is flailing, and his control over Washington has begun fraying. It feels like the opposition to him - us - now has the momentum, and he is in retreat. He has become wildly unpopular, his agenda more so. We are winning special elections all across the country even in red districts in red states. The tide is now truly turning against him, and he has clearly, definitively, lost the consent of the governed.
Which is why he has accelerated his attacks on boats on the high seas in recent days, and appears ready to attack Iran as early as this weekend. For this thing is slipping away from him and he must do something dramatic to change the current dynamic that is not just weakening him but also starting to raise questions about his legitimacy and whether he can and should remain in power.
As we go forward in our fight against him it is critical now to see all the ways they are in retreat, failing, unraveling, losing - Greenland, Minnesota, anti-DEI, Colbert, the tariffs and his economic plan, the Russia talks, the detention camps, crypto, Epstein Epstein Epstein, HHS/FDA/Kennedy, his crazy Cabinet, Abrego Garcia, the jailing of the Senators and House members…..
For what is happening now isn’t STRENGTH, POWER, and subjects BENDING THE KNEE - it is weakness, impotency, and ferocious, effective opposition wherever they look. People here in the US, and around the world, just aren’t bending the fucking knee. We are fighting, and winning against him, again and again.
Here’s how I talked about it last night:
And so just like the Epstein files escaped containment, the other thing that’s escaped containment is their ability to hide what they’re doing with ICE, and that has become now a huge problem for them. The nation has rendered a decision on this. And yes, what Trump is going to do, and in their arrogance, they believe everything is going to be okay because he has this belief that they’re going to have more money than us. They’re going to spend a lot of money. And that basically they’re going to bullshit their way through all this, the crisis, right. They’re going to spend all this money, beat up our candidates. They beat us in 2024. The same team is coming back to lead Trump’s efforts in 2026. They’re going to have a lot of money. They view the current team, Schumer and Jeffries, as weaker than our presidential team in 2024. So they think they can take us on those grounds. The second thing is they’re taking over more and more legacy media. And so they feel like they’re going to take away these independent spaces where we do all of our our work. That’s another way they think they’re going to win, right, so things don’t have to get better. But if they control the media, they can lie, or, you know, something out of 1984. Big Brother can tell his fake and false stories. The third thing is that I think that there’s already been a deal with Russia… Russia is going to come in and use all the tactics they’ve used already here in the United States and use all throughout Europe to help throw the election to Trump… that we should anticipate a massive intervention from hostile foreign powers in this election, or formerly hostile, allied now, powers to help Trump. And then they’re going to continue to try to degrade and erode the ability for the elections to be free and fair.
But they’re doing all of this because they’re losing and getting their ass kicked and he’s failing as a president. And I think that we have to recognize that what they’re not doing, really, is they’re not changing ICE policy. They’re not revoking the tariffs. They’re not reinstating the ACA subsidies. They’re not reinstating SNAP or rebuilding USAID. They’re not making any substantive changes to their agenda. They think in their arrogance and in his delusion, and in his old age and his addled state, that he’s just going to be able to bullshit his way through all this. And the reason that’s not going to happen is because we’re not going to let it happen. We have this opportunity now to have the election we all want to have. We need to go fight like hell to make it so. We can’t let him in our minds be powerful. We have to see him as weak and decrepit and decaying and rotting. I’m going to start using this word more, rotting. I think he’s rotting. His administration is rotten. It’s like an organic thing, like a stump that’s rotting outside in your backyard. He’s rotting away, literally, physically and politically, electorally and every other way, and that his agenda has been rejected by the American people.
We need to go into this period feeling strong and powerful like we’re winning and that we’re strong and he’s weak, and we’re winning, and he’s losing and we’re succeeding, and he’s failing, which is not how we always feel. But we need to… in order to win the elections. Because for people to vote for us, they have to think, and I’ve written about this a lot, they don’t have to only think that our hearts in the right place and that we want to do the right thing… they have to think that we are strong enough to overcome all of this, to be able to not just advocate for them, but to fight for them, to bring needed change that will make their lives better.
And so this idea of us being strong and gaining strength through fighting and winning is really important. It’s something that our family has to focus on as much as getting the issues right. We have to become strong enough in the eyes of voters to be able to execute on our promises and our agenda and get things done. All the data that’s out there showing that voters think that our party is weak is a huge problem that has to be addressed. I think it’s being addressed right now. We’ve made a principled stand. Our leaders have on ICE. We are doing the right thing. And through this fight, we will get stronger. We will show the American people that we just don’t want to do the right thing, but that we’re strong enough to organize ourselves, to come together, to gather our power, and to make their lives better. And that’s what this fight over ICE is about now on the Hill, which is why we have to see it through and win this battle with Trump in the coming days.
So I want to close by saying it’s possible that more is going right for us than it feels. I want you to live with that feeling tonight, that sense of accomplishment and achievement in a time of enormous crisis for the country.
Here’s why as we proceed Democrats must focus now not just on being right but also on being strong. Voters think our hearts are in the right place, and that we want to do the right thing. They just don’t believe we are strong enough to do what it takes to deliver for them. Here’s that 2024 Exit Poll data I often cite - Trump wins strong enough to “bring needed change” by 74%-24% (50 points):
And here’s new data from Navigator, from this week - “ineffective and weak.”
In order to have the election we all want to have to we must change our posture as a national party, and become leaders strong enough to overcome the corruption, the oligarchy, the inertia, the bluster and the bullshit to “bring needed change.” This will happen if we fight, and we win - not just in elections, but in direct confrontation with Trump, and in delivering for the American people. In our fight over DHS/ICE, the tariffs, the ACA, health care, his corruption, over his selling out of America to Russia, the building of his gilded imperial ballroom, etc we will become stronger, and he weaker. It is how we address this lingering brand perception of our weakness.
So if we become stronger through fighting Trump we must do it more, and across many more fronts. And we must do it more, and on many more fronts, for history tells us that when aspiring autocrats are not challenged, they perceive it as weakness, which then encourages escalation and accelerates democracy’s decline. Appeasement, “reasonableness” makes him stronger, and us weaker.
So, in the coming days we must be fierce and strong, resolute and patriotic, determined and resilient, and show the American people that we are just not well-intentioned but strong enough to “bring the needed change” they are so desperate for.
We must be as strong, and brave, and as courageous as the people of Minnesota. As strong and brave and as courageous as Alex Pretti And Nicole Good.
So, my friends, while Trump is weak, now we must become strong.
That is what we talked about last night. Watch the video, read the transcript, hit like so more will see it, and share it with as many people as you can.
Related Hopium Posts And Analyses
Has Mass Deportation Become A Domestic Vietnam For Trump, Vance, and Miller?
Standing Up For Our Neighbors - A Vital Lesson From The Siege Of Minnesota
“Coming Together” - Some Sunday Thoughts On Meeting The Moment
“The Great Task Remaining Before Us” - Imagining Victory, And “A New Birth Of Freedom” Here And Everywhere (Video, Written Analysis)
Now…..
Let’s Get To Work People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map
Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $172,100 raised, $250,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Donate to all four endorsed House challengers with one click | Learn More | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10). Now including funds already raised with our friends at FridayAction for a joint event we are doing in late March.
Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $375,400 raised, $500,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas. Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties.
Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $35,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and learn more. Amazing start everyone!
Winning Ohio - $60,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party. Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue! | Watch my conversation with David Pepper, who does a great overview of the opportunities we have in Ohio this year. Note a generous donor has sent $21,000 worth of Hopium-infused contributions directly to the candidates which are not included in our on-line goal tracker.
Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $78,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper and a new, terrific one with NC Dem Party Chair Anderson Clayton
Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $130,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff
Winning The Big Arguments With Trump, Defend Our Democracy
1 - Call Your Senators and Member Of The House And Demand They Act Upon Our Five-Part Agenda - We need to be loud people, very, very loud and make the case for our now five part agenda:
Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia; demand Congress rebuke/issue a no confidence vote on his new threats to seize Greenland and his new, dangerous European tariffs;
Congress must stand forcefully for rule of law in the Caribbean and the Pacific - these illegal strikes must end; no war can be waged without Congressional approval; there must accountability for those who have broken the law, and the US must withdraw from Venezuela and cease other threats to violate the UN Charter and the sovereignty of other nations
Roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses and farmers, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world. To put America on a sounder fiscal course due to the enormous deficits brought by Trump’s 2025 tax cuts we should reverse the cuts to the wealthy and corporations
Defend our democracy, rule of law, and our liberties adopting the Dem leadership’s ten point plan to rein in ICE; ending mass deportation and the expansion of the detention camps; warring against his outrageous targeting of his domestic political opponents and vigorously defending the 1st Amendment; ending the use of the military on our streets and the dangerous occupation of our cities; stopping the unprecedented regime corruption; forcing the Administration to finally comply with Congress and end the rancid cover up of the Epstein crimes; and ensure we have free and fair elections this November.
Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse the cuts to the ACA, Medicaid and our clean energy investments; take part in Stand Up For Science’s National Day Of Action on March 7th.
Keep working hard everyone. The momentum is with us, and we need to keep fighting as hard as we can - Simon
