Video captures Debbie Dingell, other Democrats speaking candidly about protesting Trump

A video from a gathering of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party, posted earlier this month, captured Democratic Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell and other Democrats speaking candidly about their strategies to protest President Donald Trump.

The meeting called “Democratic Responses to Trump’s Attacks & Lessons Learned from 2024 MI House Races,” attended by various activist groups and Democratic organizers, was intended to rally the Democratic base and coordinate efforts to counteract Republican policies. During the meeting, a young Black man spoke positively about Trump’s decision to appoint Alice Marie Johnson as pardon czar and applauded his move as a meaningful step towards criminal justice reform.

“A couple points slash concerns to bring up. I think one thing that’s missing in this conversation,” the young man asked Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit.”Trump appointed a new pardon czar. And it’s a Black woman, a real Black. And so I bring that up to bring up the point that the Republicans are kind of moving in on what is traditionally like a progressive concept, right? You know, giving people back there for very different reasons though, right? He’s trying to take care of the people that take care of him, whereas I don’t see very strong Democrat messaging on this point at all.”

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His comment led to a tense moment when a man tried to take the microphone from him, and the audience visibly disapproved. Trump recently announced he’s appointing Johnson as pardon czar. During his first term, he granted her a full pardon for her non-violent drug offense, after she spent 22 years in prison. 

The video also captured Dingell hinting at tactics to go against Trump. This, amid discussions meant to rally the Democratic base against Trump’s influence and strategize for upcoming elections.

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“We need to make sure it’s in every one of those damn conservative, wherever they’re communicating, and we have to be the voices that are smart, targeted and effective, and fighting back. And the way we do it. We litigate. We legislate. We only need three votes, three Republican votes. I don’t know that we can ever get the person that’s closest to us, but he is chair of Ed and Labor, but we need to be targeting someone that may want to run for governor,” Dingell said.

Dingell’s plan involves not only traditional legislative efforts, but also legal battles and public education campaigns designed to shift public opinion.

“I’m not gonna give you names so I can’t get in total trouble but take your brain one little bit. We need to be targeting all that. Then we need to be educating, that’s raising the stories, that’s telling people what is happening. We’ve got to be advocating, and we gotta be communicating. So that’s the five-prong strategy, litigate, legislate, educate, advocate, communicate,” Dingell said. “I wish I could be more cheerful, but there’s a lot of work, and we gotta keep that energy up. I could do a couple. I’ll do a couple. I’ll speed to Bloomfield Hills [near Detroit].”

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