‘We’re Tired’: Trump Has Totally Demoralized Left-Wing ‘Resistance’ Movement, NYT Reports

The “resistance” movement that motivated millions of left-wing activists to mobilize against the first Trump administration doesn’t appear to be gearing up for another fight this time around.

From the progressive pastures of Oregon to the urban streetscapes of Washington, D.C. America’s liberal foot soldiers are exhausted after more than eight years of battling a MAGA movement they have long hoped would go the way of the Tea Party, the religious right, and past conservative realignments in the Republican Party. Instead, under President-elect Donald Trump, a populist fomenting of long-term resentments about the nation’s institutions has not only taken root but blossomed, muddling partisan battle lines as Americans delivered him a mandate to upend the status quo. Eight years after Trump’s first victory, his foes have little to show for their time in the trenches, leading to a deep pessimism that’s motivating more to stay on the sidelines.

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“I thought the first women’s march would be a turning point,” Laura Bartek, a 45-year-old nurse from Virginia, told the New York Times while speaking about the million-member Women’s March on Washington in the days following Trump’s 2017 inauguration. During a recent protest on the same grounds, she paused. “To be here eight years later with these signs, it breaks my heart.”

Leslie Mac, a digital communications consultant who works with progressive grassroots organizations, said her work is being bogged down by fatigue in online corners that have traditionally been fertile ground for volunteer recruitment. “I keep getting emails to sign petitions,” she said. “These people coming to the White House don’t care about petitions. They don’t care how many people sign them. They don’t care what they say.”

When the Instagram account for the Women’s March shared a flyer promoting another event next year, one user replied, “No im tired, yall have fun though.” The account later hid the ability to view some of the more negative replies it received. On TikTok, users spawned defeatist memes of women replying to the event with captions like “Get somebody else to do it.” “This is an opportunity for a national brunch day for the 93 percent,” another replied, referencing the 93 percent of Black women who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Others questioned whether any of the activism led to concessions by the first Trump administration. Nationwide policing reform did not follow the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Three pro-life Supreme Court members were added to the court, leading to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And some of President-elect Trump’s most aggressive actions, like the Muslim ban, were fully implemented despite being relatively unpopular compared to his economic policies.

“We’ve marched so much. We’re tired of doing the same thing over and over,” said David Hogg, the former Parkland student turned gun control activist. “After the election, I got several texts saying, ‘Screw it. People in power don’t know what they’re doing and I need to run.’

“We need to be positioned to bring a new generation into office so we’re not just protesting and marching,” Hogg added. “We can’t be outside looking in.”

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