Where’s The Resistance?

The nation greets Trump’s radical changes without the hysteria of 2017

When Donald Trump was first inaugurated in 2017, the Left literally rioted. Antifa marauded through DC’s streets during Trump’s swearing-in. They harassed and even tried to assault Trump supporters the entire week. They also rioted outside the Deploraball. Normie libs also joined, albeit in a less aggressive manner. Millions of libtards marched throughout the country in pink pussy hats following Trump’s inauguration. A few days later, thousands of libs protested against the president’s travel ban and ensured it was blocked by the courts.

The “Resistance” was one of the primary features of Trump’s first term. The Left could rally tens of thousands of people to protest against any action done by the president. Migrant family separations, gun violence (somehow caused by Trump), the Charlottesville backlash, and many other events caused libs to protest en masse. This encouraged the media, politicians, corporations, judges, and even federal officials to join in the effort to thwart Trump’s agenda. The mass hysteria made Trump support a fireable offense at many jobs and laid the foundations for tech censorship.

Fast forward to the first days of Trump’s second term and there’s no resistance in sight. Trump’s executive orders are far more radical than the travel ban, yet there are no mass protests. The media’s coverage of the J6 pardons, birthright citizenship repeal, and assault on affirmative action is more resigned than defiant. In 2017, I passed the famous burning limo and saw Antifa fighting with cops on Inauguration Day. In 2025, one had to hunt high and low to find a lonely liberal with a sign denouncing Trump’s accession.

AOC and others vow to revive the Resistance, but it’s unlikely to make a comeback. The nation has changed dramatically over the last eight years. Most people aren’t as invested in politics as they were in the era of peak woke. They don’t want to protest, they don’t want to share a hashtag on social media, and they don’t want to freak out over every little thing Trump does. They simply want to work and enjoy their lives. That’s a positive development for Trump and his agenda. Without the mass hysteria of his first term, he can get a whole lot more done.

It should be obvious to all now that America is not heading to civil war. The predictions of riots, attempted coups, and bloodletting in the streets turned out to be completely wrong. This was clear to a few, highly respected commentators, but it was ignored in favor of content farming. Both right- and left-wing commentators thought there would be civil strife following the election–regardless of who won. The Left was certain Trump supporters would redo J6 if Kamala won. The Right was certain liberals would try to overthrow the results if Trump won.

In reality, Democrats celebrated the “peaceful” transfer of power and not a single lawmaker objected to the certification of the results. It was the most calm and uneventful transition of power in recent memory. Liberals didn’t even bother with pretending they’re serious about leaving the country this time around.

How did so many miss the mark on this topic? An uncharitable explanation for all the civil war talk, especially from right-wing influencers, is that it gets good engagement. Telling people there will be no civil war is boring. Telling them there is one just over the horizon is very exciting. Too many follow these tawdry incentives rather than observing the truth.

But many people honestly did believe dark times faced this country after the election. They remembered 2020 all too well and how the country convulsed with riots and political violence. But 2024 was a different beast. Trump was able to have a rally at Madison Square Garden with hardly any protests. That would’ve been unthinkable in 2020 and 2016. For those worried about another J6, there were notable signs that it wouldn’t happen again. Trump was indicted, arrested, and convicted without any street protests. No courthouse was stormed “peacefully and patriotically.”

The anti-Trump Resistance didn’t come out of nowhere. The 2010s primed the public for such an endeavor. Prior to Trump’s election, there was Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter. Campuses witnessed all kinds of disruptions that were supported by the faculty and media (read No Campus for White Men for more details). Social media mobs were whipped up at a moment’s notice. They could be energized over a random tweet that violated progressive taboos or an action taken by a Republican lawmaker. Millennials wanted their own protest movement to focus on–they just needed a cause. Trump provided it.

The time was ripe for the Resistance in the late 2010s. But Millennials aged and got burnt out on politics in the time since. Zoomers are different. They don’t seem to have “Selma envy” and care about other things besides protests. Many of them are very “woke,” but it’s expressed through personal actions. It’s not leading them to sign up for a political movement. The one cause to generate their attention and cause them to protest is Palestine. Unlike BLM and the feminist rallies of the ‘10s, Palestine is not a cause for creating Democratic foot-soldiers. This issue makes Zoomers turn against Democrats. It can’t be co-opted to be a rally point for standard liberal interests.

The perception of Trump is also completely different. While his rhetoric and actions are more radical than they were in 2017, the public now sees him as a normal politician. He’s no longer the fascist dictator-in-waiting to mainstream America. Top-tier entertainers now perform at his inauguration. Tech execs now bend the knee rather than vow to help the resistance. No one gets fired for being a Trump supporter anymore. The public no longer fears a Trump presidency. His policies now align with the majority.

A lot can happen in four years. A new resistance could emerge at some point, but the odds seem against it. An economic crash could inspire a new street movement against Trump in the same way COVID sparked the Summer of Floyd. But that’s the only scenario which could revive the resistance. Democratic lawmakers will still descend into hysterics over Trump. MSNBC will still call Trump a fascist. And major papers will still warn about the “threat to democracy.” But this will all be taken far less seriously than in 2017.

Trump is no longer a pariah in American politics. He’s now an accepted part of it. As a result, the Resistance is now out of style.