Many Americans understand that two wrongs don’t always make a right. Sometimes, they are both wrong. Such is the case in our current political environment.
Lynn Schmidt
The 2024 election ushered in the highest percentage of voters who described themselves as “double haters.” Roughly 25% of voters before the election told Pew pollsters they had unfavorable views of both then-President Joe Biden and challenger Donald Trump. These voters turned toward Trump and are primarily who delivered him his win for a second term.
Fast forward into 2025. The double haters — voters who are not stuck in a hyper-partisan silo — are growing in numbers. This group can hold two ideas at once: They believe Trump is behaving in a way detrimental to our constitutional order and that Biden and the Democrats made grave mistakes and lost the trust of the American people.
Despite the unprecedented levels of corruption, grift and controversial policies coming out of the current White House, the Democratic brand continues to be low in popularity.
The New York Times reported that “At least $2 billion has flowed to Trump companies in just the last month. The ventures include real estate, a cryptocurrency, and a private club slated to open in Washington with a $500,000 membership fee.”
Along with that is a $400 million “gift” of a luxury Qatari jet to serve as the next Air Force One. Overlooking the serious national security concerns, what will we owe the Qataris in return?
Trump has elevated lobbyists to senior government roles, including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who worked as a lobbyist for Qatar starting in 2019.
The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of a Maryland man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, it says was wrongly deported to El Salvador. The Trump administration has yet to comply with the court’s order.
Yet even with this partial list (which does not include the tariffs or the dismantling of the federal workforce), the Democratic Party brand is even more unpopular than the unpopular president.
An NBC News/Stay Tuned Poll shows a majority of American adults, 55%, disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 45% approve.
A different NBC News poll found only 27% of registered voters said they have positive views of the Democratic Party, which is the party’s lowest positive rating in NBC News polling dating back to 1990.
The reason is simple: Nonpartisan voters are not in the mood to excuse either side. Many are downright angry for the Biden administration’s tone deafness. Polling back as far as 2023 showed most Americans thought Biden was too old to run for reelection, that they were unhappy with his presidency, and that the Democratic Party had moved too far left on cultural issues such as transgender sports participation.
A sharp increase in Americans wanted to curb immigration in 2023, following record levels of illegal border crossings during the first three years of the Biden administration. Americans also could see with their own eyes that Biden did not take inflation seriously early enough.
Finally, voters did not appreciate the idea of elevating then-Vice President Kamala Harris to the nomination without a primary.
The Democratic Party must admit its faults and apologize to gain back credibility and win nationally again.
As for the GOP: The party has fundamentally changed under Trump’s control. With the wind and a win at its back, and the lack of any gatekeepers, a reckoning on the right is highly unlikely.
The NBC News/Stay Tuned Poll also shows that a plurality of adults, 38%, say that they believe neither party fights for people like them. It is hard to fight for people when you either don’t care or refuse to listen to what voters are saying they want.
Americans deserve candidates, elected officials and political parties willing to do what is right — and not just what is less wrong.
