Let’s take a minute to talk about how stupid Donald Trump and the Republican Party think the American people are. It’s honestly insulting.
Here’s what set me off: just a few days ago, in the middle of the Trump administration’s ongoing Epstein cover-up, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson straight-up claimed—without a shred of evidence—that Donald Trump was an FBI informant trying to bring down Jeffrey Epstein.
Let me repeat that: Trump. An FBI informant. On Epstein.
It might be the dumbest political lie I’ve ever heard—and that’s saying a lot, considering the last decade of straight-up lunacy.
It makes zero sense. If there were even a flicker of truth to that, Trump would’ve screamed it from the rooftops. The man’s pathologically incapable of keeping anything to himself. It’s one of his biggest flaws: a complete inability to shut the fuck up.
But that’s how dumb Republicans like Mike Johnson think we are—that he can just spit out something that laughably false, and a decent chunk of people will buy it without question.
The good news? He got absolutely roasted for it. Liberals, conservatives, comedians, the media—hell, even people in his own party—dragged him so hard he had to walk it back. He admitted yesterday he had no idea what he was talking about. That kind of public shaming is exactly what we need more of, because it proves people can be pulled back from the brink if we push back together.
But let’s not pretend this is just about Epstein. It’s the same playbook when it comes to the economy.
I was on NewsNation yesterday morning and got asked about where things stand on the economy. I pointed out—like I always do—that Trump promised to lower grocery prices on day one. And yet, here we are: everything is way more expensive because of the tariffs and his immigration policies. That’s not just a vibe—it’s in the data. Inflation is accelerating, not easing. Production costs are climbing. And that means prices are about to get worse, not better.
The Republican talking head I was debating looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Because these people live in a conservative media bubble—Fox News, Twitter echo chambers, right-wing blogs. Just saying something that’s obviously true to most Americans sounds like a foreign language to them. My guess? That guy hasn’t looked at his own grocery bill in years.
The reality is things are more expensive. It’s harder to feed your family, retire with dignity, buy a home, or take a damn vacation. And yet Trump’s out here claiming he “defeated inflation.” That it doesn’t exist. That everything is cheaper. That the economy is booming.
It’s not.
As a Democratic strategist, I get that rattling off stats doesn’t always move the needle. We made that mistake last cycle—telling people the economy was strong when it didn’t feel strong. We didn’t meet people where they were. We didn’t show empathy. We didn’t deliver direct relief. And voters punished us for it.
Now Republicans are making the same mistake—except they’re not just downplaying the problem, they’re flat-out pretending it doesn’t exist. They’re doing a full-on “there is no war in Ba Sing Se.”
Same play on crime, too. GOP leaders love to paint Democratic cities as hellholes, even though you’re more likely to be murdered in red states like Alabama than in places like California or Illinois. Sure, crime is often about perception and Democratic cities like Chicago need to do better—but Republicans usually lean into feelings better than we do. Not this time. On the economy, they’re getting smoked.
That’s why Trump’s approval is stuck in the high 30s. That’s why Democrats are performing well in the generic ballot. Don’t trust the polls? Just look at Republican behavior—gerrymandering in Texas and Missouri, Trump trying to ban mail-in voting. They know they can’t win a fair fight right now.
And to be clear, the Democratic Party is a mess in plenty of ways. It needs serious fixing—something a lot of us are working on every day. But we’ve still got better candidates, better communicators, and a clearer message, while Republicans spiral further into denial.
Back to the original point: they think we’re idiots. They think we’ll believe Trump was an FBI informant instead of being neck-deep in Epstein’s circle. They think we’ll buy the myth that red states are safer, or that people are thriving in this economy when they can’t afford rent, groceries, or gas. They think young people won’t notice they’re graduating into one of the worst job markets since COVID—or even the Great Recession.
But they’re wrong. They can’t gaslight us forever.
This is their economy. These are their immigration raids. This is their cover-up of Epstein’s files. And people are paying attention. They want affordable groceries, safe communities, a belief that they can buy a home and one day retire, and a fair shot at building a life of their own. Not MAGA fantasyland.
This GOP gaslighting isn’t confidence—it’s desperation. And the more we speak up—loudly, clearly, and unapologetically—with strong voices like James Talarico, Mallory McMorrow, Paige Cognetti, and others—the more we remind them:
The American people aren’t nearly as stupid as Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, or the Republican Party seem to think we are.
I don't think it's so much that they THINK we're stupid, I think it's more the case that they KNOW that their base IS stupid and gullible.
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