Democrats may have found a way to turn Donald Trump’s biggest presidential weapon into a political nightmare — and veteran Democratic strategist James Carville thinks Republicans could spend the next two years paying for it.
Carville is urging Democrats to stop playing defense and start forcing Trump into a series of politically damaging decisions: Put popular legislation on his desk, make Republicans vote on it, and then let the president explain why he rejected measures that millions of Americans support.
The strategy is simple: Give Trump the opportunity to sign popular bills or veto them — and make sure voters know exactly what he chose.
“What they want is to humiliate Trump,” Carville said Thursday on his Politicon podcast. “We want to watch him wither in anguish and misery and pain.”
Following the Republican Party’s devastating midterm defeat, Carville argued that Democrats should use the next two years to expose the administration’s priorities and put Republicans in increasingly uncomfortable political positions ahead of the 2028 elections.
He even posted an image of a red baseball cap bearing a single word: “VETO.”
The message? Trump may think his veto power gives him the final word, but Democrats could turn every rejection into political ammunition.
Carville laid out several examples of legislation Democrats could push through Congress, including raising the federal minimum wage, defunding the war in Iran, increasing taxes on people earning more than $500,000 annually, and reopening rural hospitals.
“We do a popular thing,” he suggested.
“Just take anything, something that has to be 75 percent popular with the public, it could go as low as 70, okay, and make them vote on it and make [him] veto it.”
In other words, Democrats would put Republicans on the record supporting or opposing measures with broad public appeal, then force Trump to decide whether to sign them or reject them.
And if he vetoes them, Democrats could spend the next two years reminding voters what he blocked.
But Carville’s ambitions go beyond making Trump’s remaining time in office miserable.
He also sees the 2028 elections as an opportunity for Democrats to regain control of the White House and Congress — potentially giving them the political leverage to reshape the conservative-majority Supreme Court.
Carville made that point with a blunt message to conservatives who believe the court’s current nine-member structure is untouchable.
“I got news for them,” he said. “Nine ain’t fine.”
The broader strategy is a significant shift from simply trying to block Trump’s agenda. Carville wants Democrats to go on offense, force public votes on popular proposals, and make the president defend his decisions in front of voters.
Whether Democratic leaders embrace the approach remains to be seen. But Carville’s argument is clear: Trump has two years left in the White House, and Democrats don’t have to spend them simply reacting to whatever he does.
Watch the clip below:
