The Trump Bump Becomes the Trump Slump

With voters in Canada and Australia opting for non-populist liberal candidates – and the worsening US economy hitting Donald Trump’s approval ratings – how long will the American President be able to keep spinning his policies in his political favour? CJ Werleman reports

One month into Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, James Carville, the legendary Democratic Party strategist and Louisiana native known affectionately as the ‘Ragin’ Cajun’, urged congressional Democrats to embark on what he called “the most daring political manoeuvre in the history of our party”.

“Roll over and play dead” and “allow Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight and make the American people miss us”, he suggested. His party should call for strategic political retreat but then “make like a pack of hyenas and go for the jugular” once Trump’s approval ratings spiral into the low-40s or high-30s.

Though he was widely ridiculed by Democrats and progressive activists, it is difficult to argue that the party hasn’t heeded his advice, given its often muted response to the President’s actions.