Yes, even Bill Ackman
Never stop welcoming
The literal translation of schadenfreude is "harm-joy.”
It may be natural to experience self-satisfaction from witnessing the suffering or humiliation of another.
But it is shitty politics.
Blake Allen is asking “Democrats to do something that I know will be difficult: whenever you come across someone whether it be here or in real life for whom *this* was their breaking point with Trump, be welcoming and magnanimous to them. It’s hard to admit you’re wrong in politics.”
But there is a massive opportunity here. You know who has been turning against Trump? A bunch of famous dudes1
CNBC’s Jim Cramer, who said in August to vote Trump “if you care about your paycheck” roasted him today (“knock down the stock market simply by opening his mouth … everything is good except one thing: we have a president angry at everyone except Putin”).
Joe Rogan, who famously endorsed Trump to his massive audience, was shaken yesterday on the insane approach to deportations (“you got to get scared that people who are not criminals are lassoed up and sent to El Salvador prisons … it’s horrific”).
Barstool’s Dave Portnoy, another Trump endorser, went viral last week demanding Trump start firing people from the leaky Houthi Signal chat. And then this morning he dubbed the stock market crash “Orange Monday”, mocking Trump.
John Burn-Murdoch has a great chart showing where Trump is losing support:
Trump has gotten significantly less popular over the last eleven weeks, and it is clear who he is losing (non-MAGA 2024 Trump voters) and on what issues (economy and inflation).
Is there an opportunity for some schadenfreude here? Some “I told-you-so”?
Sure, but do that in your group chat and not to the people in your life who could be persuaded to vote against chaos in 2026 and 2028.
Below are some charts that show Democratic presidents lead to more economic growth and lower unemployment. And a meme about how, for those of us under 50, life is just a cycle of GOP presidents crashing the economy between periods of Democratic growth (and deficit reduction!). And a chart of how the GOP Senate budget resolution adds $5.8 trillion to the deficit. And here’s a video cut of Kamala Harris predicting a recession by summer again and again and again.
Enjoy the charts, and prepare to share them effectively to make the case for Democrats. Invest the time in understanding how to effectively persuade your political opponents and welcome them to your side. This episode of The Depolarizers with Robb Willer of the Stanford Polarization and Social Change Lab is a good place to start.
More and more influential dudes with millions of followers are coming out against Trump every day. Even Bill Ackman, who is warning of a “nuclear winter”, is “turning on Trump … and he is not alone.”
We must continue building on-ramps for everyone in the party who can contribute to a majority that wins. Yes, even Bill Ackman.
The term ‘bro’ seems unnecessarily charged these days. These are guys, dudes, bros, fellas, buddies, lads. Whatever you want to call them.