The first time Donald Trump got elected, Hollie Davis took to the streets.
The day after Trump’s 2017 inauguration, Davis brought her son, then 7, to the St. Petersburg Women’s March. They were part of a crowd that swelled to 20,000 strong, at the time by far the largest protest in the history of the city.
Although not strictly partisan, the event was a reaction to Trump’s presidency. Protesters waved signs such as “Trump: racist and rapist,” and politicians called for voters to become more involved in every level of government.
Eight years later, American voters have picked Trump again.
This time, there don’t appear to be any local 20,000-person marches in the works. And Davis, instead of looking to march, is planning to move out of the country.
“We felt like we could achieve something the first time around,” Davis said. “I think it’s clear now. You just throw your hands in the air. It’s lost.”
Trump critics in Florida — where the president-elect won 56% of the vote — are feeling a range of emotions from despondence to determination.
But the vibes around Trump’s re-ascendancy are decidedly different than they were in 2016, both in Florida and around the country.
Amy Weintraub, who helped plan the St. Petersburg Women’s March in 2017, said there isn’t as much appetite for protest this time around.
Instead, activists are taking a step back to better understand the nature of the political moment. Weintraub retired this year from the organizing group Progress Florida. She said progressives, who have worked to defeat Trump, are trying to see the challenge before them with clear eyes.
“We have faced it before and so the second time is not as jarring,” Weintraub said. “Even though for many of us the first Trump administration was awful and nightmarish, we did survive. Back in 2016, 2017, we weren’t sure about that.”
Polls show that Americans are more supportive of Trump and his policies than ever. According to the polling aggregation site RealClearPolitics, Trump‘s disapproval rating was always higher than his approval rating in his first term. Earlier this month, for the first time ever, he turned that on its head. Voters are now just as likely to say they approve of him as not.
After his first election, Trump encountered significant resistance to his rise not only from Democrats but from within his own party, with some worried he posed an urgent threat to the country.
Now, Trump’s swaggering brand of politics is an accepted — and even beloved by some — reality of American life. Athletes impersonate his dance moves and the most popular podcasters on Earth sing his praises. In December, Trump rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange while the crowd chanted, “USA!” The president-elect has his pick of Florida politicians — Republican and even reportedly at least one Democrat — for his Cabinet.
To some on the anti-Trump side of the American political divide, the president-elect’s widespread acceptance only adds to the urgency of his opposition.
“The type of reflection and focus that we’re doing right now as movement leaders is really, really important,” Weintraub said. “It’s important for us not to just react for reaction’s sake and do protests for protests’ sake.”
Sarah Henry, a Democrat who narrowly lost her race for a Seminole County-area state House seat in November, said she’s seeing her activist colleagues carefully consider what it would take to resist Trump’s policies.
Instead of pulling permits for massive urban demonstrations, they’re trying to get their community ready for Trump’s agenda — particularly mass deportations of people in the country illegally, she said.
“I don’t know that I would say in our communities right now that it is a sense of resignation,” Henry said. “I think it’s more like trying to be thoughtful about how we will act before Jan. 20 and beyond.”
Kirby Wilson is a politics reporter, covering the leaders of Florida and explaining the political landscape. Reach him at kwilson@tampabay.com.
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