How the Iran War provides an opening against Trump
I spoke with Rep. Pat Ryan about the conflict and how Democrats should respond
Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to start a war with Iran has finally begun to put the administration on its heels.
It’s been a big week: Polls are showing minimal support for the war, gas prices are surging, the MAGA coalition is fracturing publicly (don’t let the $170M jet door hit you on the way out, Kristi Noem!), and Epstein revelations are continuing to fuel accusations that all of this is just a deliberate distraction from his own corruption. Meanwhile, in scattered elections on Tuesday, Democratic candidates overperformed in Red districts and among key voter groups, which foreshadow major Democratic victories are coming in November.
On a number of fronts, the president and his allies have overreached and are vulnerable, and now is the time to put our foot on the gas pedal.
The war Americans don’t want
President Trump’s unauthorized airstrikes on Iran last weekend, launched without congressional approval or public support, have triggered widespread backlash. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found just 27% of Americans approving of the war, with nearly half of Americans less likely to support the campaign if gas prices continue rising, with overall disapproval hitting 59% in a CNN survey.
As we’re just days into the bombing campaign that could last weeks or months- or even years, that’s terrible news for the administration. Economic approval for Trump is also tanking amid the fallout, as voters connect the dots between his careless foreign crusades and their personal pain.
Pain at the pump
The visible impact of the war is starting to hit Americans’ wallets. AAA reports the national average gas price jumped nearly 27 cents in a week to $3.25 per gallon as of March 5. Analysts are warning the price increases are far from over. Trump has been downplaying this, telling reporters that the high prices will be resolved quickly. But other administration officials conceded it as a foreseen factor that they knew would happen all along.
Cracks in the MAGA machine
Some of the loudest and most visible frustrations about the war are coming from the President’s MAGA allies. Far-right personalities Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Matt Walsh have criticized the war, accusing Trump of being beholden to Israeli interests. Carlson didn’t mince words, he called last weekend’s attacks “absolutely disgusting and evil.” Meanwhile, members of Trump’s own administration can’t even agree on how or why we started this war, further reinforcing the lack of any cohesive strategy or loyalty within the president’s own ranks.
How Democrats can fight back
It’s within this context that I interviewed Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY) this week, who is a rising star in the party and someone who served two combat tours in Iraq as an Intelligence officer and actually understands the nature of foreign entanglements. I asked him how Democrats should respond to the Iran war and he was unequivocal in his position.
Rep. Ryan laid it out pretty clearly: Democrats must refuse to fund this unauthorized war, forcing accountability and exposing Trump’s overreach. His blueprint emphasizes restraint and putting Americans first — a direct counter to Trump’s endless escalation. He also shared a vulnerable moment about how he hopes we can get back to a place where his own sons could be proud to serve their country under leadership that can be trusted to put Americans’ safety above their own self interest, a sentiment I imagine many parents across the country are thinking right now. You can watch our full conversation here.
As a fellow millennial whose own personal life and professional trajectory was directly shaped by 9/11 and the disinformation-laden, costly wars another Republican President started in reaction to them, I could not agree more with Ryan that this deathly military invention by Trump not only has the opportunity to further drag down this corrupt administration, but that it is up to all of us to ensure it does. Democrats in Congress should heed the lessons of our past interventions in the Middle East and stand their ground against this, and every unconstitutional move by this administration, and all of us should demand they do so.
What I’m reading this week:
Trump kicks Tucker Carlson out of MAGA movement after talker’s Iran war criticism: ‘Lost his way’ (NY Post, ⅗)
“Tucker has lost his way,” the commander-in-chief told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl on Thursday. “I knew that a long time ago, and he’s not MAGA. MAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things. And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that.”
Five Ways the Paramount-WBD Merger Is Bad News for Us All (Free Press, ¾)
“What’s good news for this president is bad news for our democracy and the constitutional rights that safeguard people across the United States from tyranny.”
New poll: Democrats’ real problem isn’t being too liberal — it’s being seen as too weak (Strength in Numbers, 2/27)
“The top descriptors of the party are empathetic (54%) and principled (49%). Comparatively few people think of it as “tough” (31%), and nearly half the country calls the Democrats weak (48%) and ineffective (47%). Democrats’ competence rating is 46% — five points higher than the GOP’s — but it’s the weakness and ineffectiveness labels that dominate voters’ impressions and national discourse about the party.”