Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s (D-Mich.) speech late Tuesday was a bright spot for Democrats in a night that saw the party criticized for its chaotic response to President Trump’s address to Congress.
Slotkin garnered praise for her rebuttal to Trump, in which she leaned on her national security bona fides and slammed the president for prioritizing the wealthy, in contrast to responses during the speech from other Democrats — including Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who was escorted out of the chamber after heckling Trump.
For some observers, the contrast between Slotkin’s speech and the protests from other members of her party underscored Democrats’ challenges as they try to formulate a unified and effective mode of resistance to the president.
“She’s the one who I think has the best chance to be remembered at the end of the day for delivering a message that Democrats want to hear,” longtime Democratic strategist David Thomas said. “If you choose to hold up a sign or you choose to walk out, I’m not sure that’s remembered a week from now.”
During Trump’s nearly two-hour address before a joint session of Congress, several Democrats sported a message of “Resist” on their T-shirts. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) held up a handwritten note proclaiming “This is not normal.” Others held paddles that read “save Medicaid,” “false” and “Musk Steals.”
Green, meanwhile, stood and heckled Trump, which culminated in Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) directing the House sergeant-at-arms to remove him from the chamber.
Multiple Democrats skipped Trump’s speech altogether. A handful of others, including Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), walked out.
Trump’s remarks became “in effect, a campaign rally,” Thomas said. “And some of the responses by some of the Dems are not things that I would choose to do.”
“Overall, a dismal night for Democrats. The paddles were stupid and an invitation for memes. The rabble-rousing in the beginning did not play well,” said Republican strategist Brian Seitchik, a former Trump campaign staffer. “That being said, Sen. Slotkin had a great night, and she put herself on the vice-presidential list for the next decade.”
Slotkin delivered a concise 10-minute Democratic rebuttal, stressing the need for unity on the economy, national security and democracy, and touting that battleground Michigan voted for both her and Trump on the same ballot last fall — all while knocking the president’s first few weeks in office.
Delivering the rebuttal is “usually a losing proposition,” Seitchik said, but Slotkin offered her party the “bright spot” of the night.
The first-term senator “was particularly strong,” said Martha McKenna, a Democratic strategist and veteran of the Democrats’ Senate campaign arm.
At the same time, Slotkin’s remarks were somewhat overshadowed by the antics in the chamber — and, given Trump’s lengthy talk, might have aired too late to get a lot of attention.
“If these speeches continue to start at 9 and go for two hours, we should think about doing our rebuttal ahead of time,” McKenna quipped.
Democratic leaders had reportedly cautioned lawmakers not to let their protests take over Trump’s speech, though such addresses are often a chance for the minority to show resistance.
“Clearly, we didn’t want the story coming out of yesterday to be what we’re talking about right now,” said Democratic consultant Kristen Hawn.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday defended the “majority” of House Democrats who “approached the speech with the seriousness that it deserved.” MSNBC host Symone Sanders Townsend called out Democrats for “just sitting there” and argued “the signs are not landing,” while Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said he thought Green’s interruptions were “counterproductive.”
Hawn said lawmakers’ frustration with Trump’s presidency is understandable, and stressed that each is taking the approach they think will resonate with their constituents. Still, “yelling on the House floor is not going to help us win in November,” she said.
Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, a former lead spokesperson in both the House and Senate, said he doesn’t think Democrats “could have played it worse” with their varied approaches.
“To have so many different types of messages, all negative, but to not have a consistent, unified theme … is a huge missed opportunity,” Bonjean said.
From the rebuttal to the protests, the varied responses reflected “different attitudes in terms of how aggressive, attention-getting people should be” when approaching the new administration, said Democratic strategist Eddie Vale.
There’s a broader frustration “that people aren’t doing bigger or more effective things for communicating with voters overall,” Vale said.
“And so in the end, what shirt you wore or if you walked out last night isn’t going to matter, but it is going to matter if you do or don’t have a longer-term strategy as effective communicators for talking to people.”
Others argued it isn’t a problem that the protests felt somewhat disorganized — and that some discord might have strategic value.
“Some people might think that they weren’t effective, but they got a lot of press,” said Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. “This is our version of flooding the zone.”
“This new generation, both of leaders and of voters, are going to have a big stay in how we [move forward], and it’s not going to necessarily look organized, look tame, look even like we’re all on the same page. But that’s OK. We don’t all need to be on the same page. We just need to be reading from the same playbook.”
