Juanita Tolliver: Democrats Can Improve Their Favorability Rating by Treating Trump as a Threat and Embracing Zohran Mamdani

SHARPTON: “And speaking of polling, a new Wall Street Journal poll shows Democrats getting their lowest approval number among voters in 35 years, with Republicans outperforming them by nearly 20 points. How big of a red flag should this be for Democrats a year before the midterms? And what can they do to improve their perception among voters?”
Tolliver: “It’s red everywhere, Rev. And it’s not just a red flag. This is a blaring red alarm that Democrats should not ignore. And I say that thinking about how angry people are, because Democrats specifically ran on a platform, in 2024, about how dangerous Donald Trump is, how he would lead an authoritarian type of regime in this administration, and how he is now acting on that. And Democrats have yet to formulate an explicit, comprehensive response to someone that they identified as a threat. They’re not treating him as a threat. There’s these attempts to use normal tactics and politics that no longer apply to the playbook or the reality that we’re experiencing. And I think it’s important for Democrats to listen to this and re-calibrate, even including how they treat candidates who do excite voters, who do expand the number of people engaging in elections, and, of course, I’m talking about New York City mayoral candidate, the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani. The fact that Democrats have not overwhelmingly endorsed his campaign and then see this type of polling, which show them down, means that they need to reset themselves, not only in responding to Donald Trump, but also in engaging younger candidates who are expanding the base and engaging and exciting the public, because that’s something that they’re gonna need critically in 2026.”