By admin 
Democrats have spent years stoking fear about President Donald Trump, branding him a ruthless tyrant king bent on building an American dictatorship.
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Now, they are turning to ridicule to widen the conceit.
They’re painting him as a lazy, corrupt and aging modern Nero whose self-indulgence and extravagance are burning everything down.
The metaphor flip comes with Trump’s popularity matching all-time lows and as his legacy-building construction spree fuels perceptions he’s out of touch.
The party’s emerging star, Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, is leading the charge with steely-eyed takedowns that have turned his reelection race into a potential audition for the Democratic field in 2028. He escalated the feud on Tuesday, calling Trump “a draft-dodging, crook president who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win.”
Ossoff is not the first Democrat to mock Trump to ignite clashes that elevate them beyond their states. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker tweaked the president’s self-image last year by claiming “he cheats on his wives, he cheats at golf.” And California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s social media accounts parody Trump’s online persona; one post last, year, for instance, declared that “MANY ARE SAYING HE CAN’T EVEN DO THE ‘BIG STAIRS’ ON AIR FORCE ONE ANYMORE.”
It’s a case of, “If you can’t beat him, join him,” since picking out foils for political gain is a classic Trumpian tactic.
But the stakes are rising as Democrats move to full mockery less than two months from the midterm elections. The question now becomes whether merciless lampooning of Trump can do more than cheer partisans and drum up campaign cash: Can it do true political damage to the president with two years left in office?
One way to do that would be to puncture Trump’s mystique.
The president has incessantly conjured the aura of a strongman. But if attacks can expose him as brittle and diminished, his political woes will escalate. The president is hardly helping himself here. When he seems to doze off at Oval Office events, it’s not only a terrible look for a wartime commander in chief; it also creates a perception of weakness that Democrats can attack.
Ossoff shows he can play hardball
Taunting Trump also works in another way for Democrats. Savage mockery can provoke exactly the kind of behavior they hope to highlight. Trump, for instance, erupted at an event on Monday when he was asked about Ossoff’s jab at his closeness with Natalie Harp, a ubiquitous aide. Trump hardly projected youthful vigor by comparing Ossoff to 1980s comedic character Pee Wee Herman — a retaliatory slap 40 years behind the zeitgeist.
Ossoff showed he could play hardball by referencing Harp at the risk of criticism for dragging in a third party. The flap triggered a furious pushback from the White House and condemnation from conservative pundits who’ve long tolerated Trump’s sometimes-misogynistic rhetoric.
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But mockery alone won’t undo Trump. At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, former President Barack Obama scorched the president’s “childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes.” And Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz gained traction by ridiculing Trump for serving fries at a McDonald’s drive-thru and describing MAGA heavyweights as “weird” before his own vulnerabilities drowned out the message.
Trump won back the White House anyway.
The pivotal issue in 2024 was not Trump’s absurdities but the disastrous decision of a fading President Joe Biden to run for reelection and his unconvincing replacement on the Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Derision may have a better chance of derailing Trump now. Two years ago, he was in the middle of the greatest comeback in political history and projecting invincibility after defying an assassination attempt.
The atmospherics have shifted as the midterms approach, though Trump’s first year back in office saw a relentless accumulation of power that lent more credibility to earlier Democratic warnings about a wannabe dictator. Trump’s struggles against Iran; his rejection of affordability concerns that affect millions; and the spectacle of his legacy projects provide openings that even the often-clumsy Democratic Party might well exploit.
Getting in the gutter with Trump may not pay off
Still, Democrats who pile on need to be careful.
Trump is a feral political street fighter. Those who join him in the gutter usually get roughed up. And the age of stunt politics may be waning. Newsom might have gratified partisan Democrats spoiling for a fight by aping Trump’s social media excesses. But after a decade of Trump’s grating uproar — which Obama in 2024 compared to a neighbor with an annoying leaf blower — will 2028 voters really vote for a Democratic replica?
Ossoff seems to have considered this as he pitches his reelection bid as a referendum on an unpopular president — which, conveniently, will morph seamlessly into a presidential campaign if he takes the plunge.
Ossoff is cutting through not only because he’s unusually good at mocking Trump. His ridicule conveys a deeper condemnation of the president as an absent, absurd and hapless figure who’s not up for the job. Meanwhile, Americans still struggle to pay for food, housing and healthcare, and they’re growing increasingly leery of a new Middle East quagmire.
The messenger is strong. But the message is stronger because Trump keeps validating it.
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