The big contradiction in progressive thinking about Trump

President Donald Trump gestures as he departs the White House on September 22, 2025 to attend the UN General Assembly. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images President Donald Trump has brought American democracy to the brink. But Democrats should not moderate any of their positions, for the sake of disempowering him. This is a popular pair of positions among progressives, despite the apparent tension between them.  As the New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, a Vox co-founder, argued last week, many of those most alarmed by Trump “don’t embrace what I think obviously follows from that alarm, wh