FINALLY: Democrats unveil NATIONWIDE plan to CRUSH TRUMP

This is Democracy Watch. Mark, you and I. have spoken a lot about all of the. actions that the Trump administration. has taken against the American people. and there's been a lot of uh focus on. how we can fight back and this weekend. we actually have an instance in which we. can do exactly that. Can you explain. what we have to look forward to? Yeah, so big protest this weekend. You know, people have been been concerned that. there that there is a lack of energy um. on the ground to uh stand up against. everything that Donald Trump is doing uh.

to this country. And you know, it has. become sort of a media narrative that. somehow the protests of the 2017 era. are, you know, are not being replicated. in uh in 2025. And by the way, there's. some truth to it, but it's actually not. entirely true. like you know if you look. at for example the Tesla dealership. protests I think actually those have. been quite effective and quite. widespread but this weekend uh there. will be a much much larger. well-coordinated. uh uh set of protests around the country.

uh organized by uh a vast spectrum of of. of progressive and democratic uh. organizations and so it's a real. opportunity for everyone out there who's. asked you and me and others you know. what can you do um you know this is. something you could do that you can join. point and and Mark, what do you what do. you think the what do you hope the. biggest takeaway from a mass. demonstration like this will be? So I. think the biggest takeaway in 2025 needs. to be that people are not alone that.

there that that that not everyone is. cowering not everyone is backing down. I. think it's really hard for people at an. individual level to constantly be. reading about how media figures or. billionaires or high-powered lawyers or. universities how everyone is bending a. knee and backing down and not feeling a. little bit of dispirited from that and. wondering well you know what can I do. I'm just one individual and you know I. wrote something for democracy docket. about Cy Booker standing on the floor of. the Senate for 25 hours and how. important that was not just in in that.

he did it and what he said but that it. really showed that everyone can stand. up, that everyone has a voice and. everyone has a town square to speak out. in. And these these these organized. protests are really a great way for. people to kind of live that, right? Like. you may not be able to take to the. Senate floor. You may not be Brian Tyler. Con with, you know, four plus million. people watching every word that you. utter, you know, so utter words that are. worth hearing by four million people, Brian. Uh but these are opportunities. for, you know, everyday Americans to. show up and and find that there is there.

there is collective action and there is. power in that collective action. And so. regardless of where you live, because. this is happening in all 50 states, you. can look for you can search online for. handsoff. That's the name of this. protest, the hands-off protest. There. are over a quarter of a million people. who've already RSVPd. I'm sure that. there are going to be hundreds of. thousands if not millions more who are. going to take to the streets who haven't. officially RSVPd. But again, you can. look uh look online and find where you. can go in your respective state to make.

sure that you take to the streets. And I. think I think one thing that you brought. up was was especially um on point here. And that is this idea that that. everybody should be doing something. The. the Cy Booker example was the perfect. example because look, not much. materially is going to change from. yesterday to today. if you have Cy. Booker standing up on the Senate floor. But what he did was figure out a way to. break through in a media environment. where it's really difficult to be able. to break through and and so by virtue of. doing this, yes, he was able to break.

through because he did something. different. He figured out how to. optimize in this media environment. Figured out how to do something a little. bit left to center that most people. aren't doing as as opposed to just. taking to the floor for, you know, a. couple of minutes and sticking that that. faction of that speech online hoping. that it gets a few hundred,000 or. million views and then calling it a day. This is him literally putting his body. on the line for 25 hours so that he. could break through in this environment. and get people to listen to his words. And I think that this protest that we're.

going to see across the country is not. dissimilar at all to exactly that. because the reality is that we need to. take big swings. We need to do things. that are a lot different from what we've. you from what we are used to doing to be. able to break through to be able to get. people paying attention. And so we saw. it from Cy Booker. He did that on an. individual basis. We're going to see. that this weekend on a collective basis. But I think that Democrats are starting. to recognize that we can't just operate. using the same old playbook and that we. have to think outside the box here and. figure out ways to really break through.

to really be able to reach people and. really start to make a change that way. Yeah. And I think, you know, a point you. have made over and over again that I. think is really super smart and I hope. that progressive organizations and. Democrats listen to you because you've. been really uh at the leadership of. helping them understand the moment we're. in is when Cy Booker does what he does. Yes, he gets a lot of views. Yes, he. gets a lot of attention and he also. inspires other people, but he also helps.

support a whole ecosystem that is trying. to get this message out. He gives. content frankly Brian to you and to you. know I wrote something on democracy. docket about him speaking out. It is. something that has then a multiplier. effect and I think if we see large. protests you know we see peaceful. demonstrations in city after city yeah. those capture the media attention and. that's great they capture v viral videos. on Tik Tok but it also presents. opportunities for others that may be in. adjacent spaces. They may cover other.

areas of the news. They may cover other. kinds of things. They may not even cover. politics. They may be influencers in. other topics uh and other spheres, but. who can then wrap this into their. audiences. And so it creates the the the. grist for sort of a larger uh narrative. to take hold. And by the way, that. that's a great point and it's it's a. strategy that Republicans have employed. for years. I mean, there is a reason. that we had so many books written about. Donald Trump during his first presidency.

is because every time somebody would. write a book, Trump would then Trump. would then, you know, obviously he wants. to read a a positive a positive book. about himself, he would then promote it, get these people onto the New York Times. bestseller list, get them a lot of. sales, and that would serve as an. incentive structure for other people in. the ecosystem to do exactly that. So, everybody who was going to write a Trump. book basically knew, okay, I'm going to. have an audience at some point. I'm. going to get a shout out at some point. from Donald Trump himself and so I'll. keep doing it. And he engendered this. idea of of really incentivization for.

people to to write about him. And he. built up this ecosystem on the right. And I think that the more that that. folks on the left do that, either by by. knowing that, you know, if if you put. yourself out there, you're going to get. covered, or by giving content to people. who will then use it and really. supercharge the the the discourse on the. left that way. in any way, any way you. cut it, it's going to be beneficial. But. really, this is a strategy that the. right has employed um for a very long. time and it's been really successful for. them. And I think that it's good that.

Democrats are finally recognizing now uh. the the benefits more broadly that it's. having. Yeah. And also it does give. people something concrete. I mean, there. is no question that people are hungering. to know not just what they can read and. not just what they can watch, but what. they can do. And what it does is it. shows that there's something they can. do. I mean, part of what Senator Booker. did is he did something. You know, it. was it was it was big, it was bold, it.

was new, and it was active. He was out. there on the Senate floor. He wasn't. reading the Senate phone book or I'm. sorry, reading the phone book generally. wasn't just like reciting nursery rhymes. like Ted Cruz. He was he was animated. He was energized. He was he was he was. discussing, you know, why this matters. And I think giving people an opportunity. this weekend to, you know, get out of. their houses, you know, get all get off. of social media and and be part of. something and feel like they are doing. something, you know, will also.

reinvigorate and energize people when. they then see what Democratic elected. officials are doing, what groups are. doing, what influencers are doing. It. will make them feel like they are part. of that. Right. And and that's the. perfect point. We'll leave off there. Again, for everybody watching right now, if you want to do something, if you want. to get off the couch, get off the. internet and actually get with a. community of people who who um together. will show you that that we have some. path out of this, please check out these. protests across the country. Please make. yourself be a part of it across the.

country. Post this stuff online. get. this uh narrative moving that Democrats. have the enthusiasm which has already. been uh sparked by our our big win in. Wisconsin and uh and and just let it. continue to grow as we head toward uh. 2026 here. Uh with that said, um for. anybody watching that's also looking to. support the invaluable work that Mark. and his team are doing. Um please sign. up for Democracy Docket. It's the news. outlet he founded to focus on everything. voting and elections. These are the. exact kind of people, the exact kind of. words, the exact kind of outlets that we.

need to be lifting up. So, I'll put that. link right here on the screen and also. in the post description of this video. I'm Brian Taylor Cohen. I'm Mark Elias. This is Democracy Watch. [Music].