A Sacramento congressman proves that Democrats are divided on how to oppose Trump | Opinion
After President Donald Trump’s inauguration, liberals and leftists talked about creating a resistance to his administration that has targeted trans people, immigrants, and DEI efforts. The big problem with this resistance is that not all Democrats agree on how to fight it.
Nothing clarifies that more than the March 6 vote to censure Rep. Al Green, D-Texas. It was Green whose method of Trump resistance caused him to be ejected from the House chambers after he stood and shouted in Trump’s direction as he spoke in a nationally televised address.
Some news outlets said Green is believed to be the first politician to be removed from a joint session of Congress.
Ten Democrats joined all House Republicans to censure Green, including Rep. Ami Bera of Sacramento.
In a statement, Bera explained his vote this way: “We shouldn’t be talking about Al Green. We should be talking about Donald Trump. We should be talking about Trump’s plans to eliminate the Department of Education. We’ve got to keep the focus not on our (Democratic) caucus, but on what Donald Trump is actually doing.”
My first reaction to Bera’s statement and his siding with Republicans to censure Green cannot be shared in a family newspaper. I think he’s two-faced. I can’t believe that Bera could sit there and listen to Trump’s insane speech and then turn around and vote to censure a 77-year-old colleague who spoke against Trump’s insanity.
Bera’s statement is disingenuous and speaks to a problem Democrats have right now. They don’t know who they are or what they stand for or how to fight Trump. By taking the action he did, Bera was doing exactly what he was deploring. He was striking out against a colleague instead of striking out against Trump.
In another statement, Bera said: “We owe it to ourselves and future generations to stand up for our values, defend our democracy and keep the American dream alive for generations to come.”
So the best way to show Trump and the Republicans the importance of democracy is to join them in censuring a fellow Democrat who literally stood up for his values? Green was reminding the president that cutting Medicaid would hurt millions of Americans.
Bera and the other nine Democrats who have resorted to bending the knee to Republicans show that not everyone is on board with a resistance. That indifference will all but squash Democrats’ attempts at a resistance.
Some Democrats will jump at every opportunity to appear morally correct, even when censuring one of their own.
What liberals and leftists should be focusing on is getting candidates that share their views, if the party can ever figure out what those views are. Stop hoping that moderate Democrats will have a change of heart and make a path forward for your beliefs. They won’t.
“I will suffer the consequences,” Green said. “But I must add this, what I did was from my heart. People are suffering and I was talking about Medicaid. I didn’t just say you don’t have a mandate. I said you don’t have a mandate to cut Medicaid.”
Who is right? Bera or Green?
Until Democrats figure that out, it will be a make-believe resistance.
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 9:00 AM with the headline "A Sacramento congressman proves that Democrats are divided on how to oppose Trump | Opinion."
