Whatever reckoning Democrats were pretending to have after losing in last November’s elections is over. The Democratic Party has decided to put itself on the losing side of every hot-button issue to please its radical base.
A YouGov poll found that 45% of people disapprove of the “recent protests in Los Angeles” against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Just 36% approve, even with the favorable characterization of these violent riots as “protests.” Independents disapprove 41%-34%, and one can reasonably guess that the 25% who are “not sure” would come down against the people lighting cars on fire, looting businesses, and trying to throw cement blocks through the windshields of vehicles as federal agents drive through the city.
The most interesting aspect is that the polling is closer on whether people think the “protests” are violent. 38% think they are mostly violent, while 36% think they are mostly peaceful. Even at a time when people are less likely to deem the protests as mostly violent, they are more willing to disapprove of them and their goals.
That is because people support deporting violent illegal immigrants, whom the ICE raids are targeting. Legal immigrants who have become citizens (and voters) trust the GOP more on immigration by 8 points, a massive change from 2020, when they trusted Democrats more by 32 points. In the view of legal immigrants, illegal immigrants have gone from a net favorability rating of plus-23 points to negative 6 points.
Despite this, Democrats have placed themselves in the minority, blaming the violent riots on ICE deportations and President Donald Trump. This goes hand-in-hand with a previous Democratic publicity stunt, where Democratic politicians tried to storm ICE facilities in New Jersey and assaulted federal law enforcement. The only prominent Democrat who has come out and said that riots are bad, outright, without blaming Trump or ICE agents, is Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
MOSTLY PEACEFUL RIOTS RETURN AS MEDIA DOWNPLAY CHAOS AGAIN
If you are keeping track, this is not the first loser issue Democrats have embraced. Along with defending riots and opposing the deportation of violent illegal immigrants, Democrats have fully embraced letting boys compete in girls’ sports, which 79% of people oppose, according to a New York Times/Ipsos poll. On top of those, Democrats in major Democratic constituencies are going more radical. California wants to offer murderers a chance to be released if their offense was committed between the ages of 18 and 25, while New York City is seriously considering electing an antisemitic socialist as its next mayor.
The Democratic primary base is so far gone that it is on the losing side of every major issue. Democratic politicians remain too committed to their base to appeal to the broader electorate. Democrats have learned nothing from 2024, and thus far, their strategy for 2026 and beyond is to hope for Trump to tank the economy.