Tara Palmeri writes about the trust Democrats lost when Joe Biden performed so poorly on a debate stage with Donald Trump. Voters had been and continued to be gaslighted about his health and his performance that night confirmed their worst fears.[1]

But in fact, the Democrats gaslighted voters on inflation, they continue to pursue neoliberal policies (“responsible stewardship” or some such nonsense), they continue to fail the working class (the federal minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour), they refuse to repudiate Israel for genocide in Gaza, they failed to codify Roe v. Wade even as an increasingly conservative Supreme Court narrowed its protections and moved towards overturning it, they failed to reform voting rights which the Supreme Court have now eviscerated, and they seem mostly to seek “bipartisan consensus” on increasingly right wing policies (from Ronald Reagan on).

Indeed, I continue to see the Democrats as a party that prefers to sit in opposition where they can complain about Republicans without ever actually being expected to accomplish anything. And I see Donald Trump in the presidency as a direct result of their fecklessness.

Biden’s deterioration might have been forgivable if the Democrats could be trusted to improve anybody’s lives other than those of the “donor class.” But they couldn’t—and still can’t.

[1] Tara Palmeri, “Jill Biden’s New Story Reopens Democrats’ Biggest Problem: Trust,” Red Letter, June 1, 2026, https://www.tarapalmeri.com/p/jill-bidens-new-story-reopens-democrats