The kindest thing President Donald Trump has ever said about his political opponents is that they are “haters” or “losers”. More often, he suggests they are “traitors”, criminals or conspirators. On a near-daily basis he falsely accuses Democrats of “stealing” elections and faking votes. He spent years claiming President Barack Obama wasn’t even a real American. More than once, he accused Democrats of being associates of Jeffrey Epstein – despite the late paedophile having described himself as Trump’s “closest friend for ten years”.
The rest of the Republican Party typically follows Trump’s example, bombarding their Democratic opponents with the strongest invective imaginable. But from the Democrats’ highly cautious approach, it often appears as though radically different rules apply to their party.
Democrats often act as though they are living in a bygone era, in which politicians were rewarded by voters for politeness, for “reaching across the aisle” and a collegiate attitude toward their rivals. Rather than fight fire with fire, Democrats issue mild-mannered statements, urge Republicans to work with them to pass bipartisan bills and otherwise try to sound like the grown-ups in the room – often to the mounting frustration of their core voters and activists.
