Democrats Revive the Resistance: Ken Martin, ICE, and the Return of Trump-Era Hysteria

Weary of their more excitable comrades, the Democratic Party’s seasoned establishmentarians embarked on the second Trump era with a warning for their allies: Take it down a notch.

James Carville put it most succinctly. Democrats, he advised in February of last year, must “roll over and play dead.” The president and his allies would make a politically exploitable mistake soon enough. And the Democratic opposition would only be able to effectively exploit it if it presented itself as a sober, rational alternative to Republican governance.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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Weary of their more excitable comrades, the Democratic Party’s seasoned establishmentarians embarked on the second Trump era with a warning for their allies: Take it down a notch.

James Carville put it most succinctly. Democrats, he advised in February of last year, must “roll over and play dead.” The president and his allies would make a politically exploitable mistake soon enough. And the Democratic opposition would only be able to effectively exploit it if it presented itself as a sober, rational alternative to Republican governance.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.