Senate Democrats have condemned the killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk; however, they have frequently said President Donald Trump is a “threat to democracy” and a “dictator.”
Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Senate Democrat candidate wrote on X, “I am praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones. Violence must have no place in our country and we should all remember our common humanity.”
In July 2024, Cooper said after a meeting with Democrat governors, “We had a good meeting with the President talking about what’s needed to win. Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy, and everyone in the room agreed that defeating him is imperative.”
Other Democrats have made similar comments.
In April, speaking about the push to impeach Trump, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) said, “I have no doubt that this president, given his authoritarian impulses, his desire to rule as a king by decree, and his contempt for those who criticize and disagree with him, would relish the opportunity to try to invoke or wield emergency powers.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in 2020 warned that Supreme Court Justices would “pay the price” if they voted to uphold state restrictions on abortion. He walked back the comments one day later.
“He’s playing dictator in our nation’s capital as a dress rehearsal as he pushes democracy to the brink,” Van Hollen wrote on X in August.
- Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in June said that Trump is acting like a dictator by “openly selling access and influence.”
- The same month he said that Trump is transforming the country into a “strongman state.”
- Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) in July said that people are “dying because of fear and terror” created by the Trump administration.
- Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said that the Big Beautiful Bill is “moral obscenity” and called it “violence in the sense of what it will do.”
- Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) in September charged that we are not “living in a democracy” because there is “no rule of law” under Trump.
- Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) in May called Trump a dictator and referred to his actions as “authoritarianism on steroids.”
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in June said Trump is making the country look more like a “fascist state.”
Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) remarked, “I can see this as the kind of the handbooks of an authoritarian-leaning regime.”
Michigan Senate Democrat candidate Adbul El-Sayed said, “When they go low, we don’t go high. We take them to the mud and choke them out.”
El-Sayed’s inflammatory statement was reportedly met with “big applause.”
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Trump is using the “dictator playbook” while he tries to crack down on illegal immigration:
Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who is running for reelection, referred to Trump as a “demagogue:”
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