Trump resistance growing after a period of ‘grieving,’ Jayapal says
If the Democratic resistance to the second Trump administration has seemed a little muted, there were signs of stirring this week at a town hall held by Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
Lines to get into the Tuesday evening event on First Hill wrapped in two directions around the block. About 1,000 people eventually packed Town Hall Seattle, with others turned away.
When Jayapal asked the crowd if they were going to sit out in the face of President Donald Trump’s whirlwind of firing federal workers and other executive actions, they shouted back: “No!”
Hundreds fill Town Hall Seattle on Tuesday to hear U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times)
At the event and in a subsequent interview this week, Jayapal, one of the nation’s leading congressional progressives, acknowledged the resistance to Trump 2.0 has been slow to coalesce.
“People were in some combination of shock and despair right after the election,” Jayapal, who represents Seattle, said in the interview, describing exhausted Democrats who initially wanted to tune out the news. “You know, people wanted some hope, but they weren’t quite ready to jump in. They were still in almost a grieving process.”
But, she said, Trump’s aggressive early actions have started to generate a backlash, one Democrats hope to harness to beat back the administration’s agenda in the short term, and to build momentum toward regaining control of the House in the 2026 midterm election.
Jayapal points to demonstrations at federal buildings and state capitols around the country, and to growing crowds at events like her town hall, as evidence the Trump resistance has returned.
“There was a lull. But it’s back. We are back!” Jayapal said, to cheers at Tuesday’s event.
Gov. Bob Ferguson thanks Rep. Pramila Jayapal for her continuing work at Town Hall Seattle on Tuesday. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times)
Inside the town hall, a safe zone for progressives in one of the nation’s bluest cities, the crowd largely united in alarm over the Trump administration and sought a plan for how to respond.
Jayapal, who has represented the 7th Congressional District since 2017, did not hold back. In her speech, she said the work of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was not really about cutting waste, but was a pretext to “implement a far-right, authoritarian, white ultranationalist Christian ideology under a dictatorial leader — otherwise known as American fascism.”
Jayapal outlined what she called a three-pronged strategy to push back.
She said congressional Democrats will use their platform to highlight Trump’s actions, which she said may not have been fully grasped by the public. Second, she said that lawsuits, including some in Washington state, will seek to block illegal actions. And third, she said regular people must take to the streets to nonviolently protest.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal addresses the audience at Tuesday’s event at Town Hall Seattle. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times)
But in a city and a state where Republicans hold few prominent political positions, what can people do to directly challenge the Trump and Musk regime?
Jayapal urged her town hall crowd to think about people they know in other states, particularly in congressional districts where Republicans won by slim margins. She said they should call friends in such places and urge them to amp up pressure on their GOP representatives.
On social media Friday, Jayapal pointed to video of a town hall held by Republican Rep. Rich McCormick, of Georgia, who faced constituents unhappy with DOGE-led budget cuts.
“And this is exactly what must happen — constituents pushing back on the Republicans who are kowtowing to Trump/Musk when they know it is HURTING their constituents,” she wrote in a post on X.
So far, Republicans in Congress have done little to push back against Trump, whose 2024 victory was decisive as he swept all the swing states against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Unlike in 2016, he also narrowly won the national popular vote. Meanwhile, Democrats also lost control of the Senate.
“The first time around, you could believe that it was an aberration,” Jayapal said in the interview this week. This time, however, “people clearly knew what they were voting for,” she said, noting Trump was open about his plans such as pardoning people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
She said Democrats deserve some blame for their political fate for not adequately addressing the concerns of working people about trade and offshoring of manufacturing jobs over many years.
While the Jayapal town hall was mostly a friendly crowd for her, there were some discordant notes from questioners who wondered if Democrats are up to the task.
Sean Osborn, of Shoreline, called Jayapal’s votes and speeches useless and said she and other Democrats should take “direct action” — like chaining themselves to the doors of the Social Security Administration to block “Elon Musk’s people from going in and taking our money.”
Jayapal responded that such direct protests might be needed at some point, and noted she has been arrested at demonstrations before. But she said she wants to “be really strategic” to make sure such steps have the desired impact.
The final questioner at the town hall, Sophie Daudon, of Seattle, asked Jayapal to identify a positive policy agenda for Democrats, saying she hadn’t seen a cohesive “new narrative” to capture public support.
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal addresses a standing room-only crowd at Town Hall Seattle on Tuesday. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times)
“In addition to resisting Trump, which I recognize takes a lot of energy, I really want to know what the Democrats in the House and in general are doing right now to envision what we stand for, not what we stand against,” she said.
Jayapal agreed, “we can’t just be an opposition party.” She pointed to an array of policies Democrats have already backed, including living wages, universal health care, and plans to help bring down the costs of child care and housing.
She added that the party must push against “structural reasons why things don’t work — like how about getting rid of the Electoral College?”
That line drew massive applause. But it didn’t leave Daudon satisfied.
“I don’t think she really answered my question,” she said. “What I am really craving, which is hard to do when you have the energy that Trump is bringing, is Democrats being really creative about what we’re going to do and offer instead.”
Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com. Seattle Times political reporter Jim Brunner covers state, local and regional politics.