Donald Trump wants his opponents to be afraid.

Don’t.

That was the message presented Thursday by former CD-7 congressman Tom Malinowski, who joined current CD-11 Rep. Mikie Sherrill, for a sort of Facebook-live resistance chat.
Malinowski, who now chairs the Hunterdon County Democratic Committee, said he understands the anxiety among Trump critics. But he warned against feeling helpless or “paralyzed.”

Democrats have to fight back.

Sherrill and Malinowski said that, generally speaking, the fight will be on two fronts – in the House and in the courts.

With a handful of GOP House members either resigning (Matt Gaetz) or joining the Trump Administration, the Republicans’ margin in the House will soon be 217 to 215.

That’s going to make it extremely difficult for House Republicans, who are not always together, to get things done, they said.

But how about Trump’s executive orders?

That’s where the courts come in.

Sherrill said opponents have had some successes, mentioning court decisions blocking a funding freeze and supporting birthright citizenship.

A few hours after the event, a court also blocked the administration’s buyout plan.
The problem was easy for the Dems to illustrate.

“You have now a billionaire going after the most vulnerable communities,” Sherrill said, referring to Elon Musk led attacks on Head Start, Meals on Wheels and federal health centers.

This means, they said, that there are going to be more court challengers.

Sherrill and Malinowski were linked together in 2018 when they both won traditionally-held Republican seats.

Since then, Sherrill has easily won reelection. Malinowski won again in 2020, but lost to Republican Thomas H. Kean Jr. in 2022.

Now that Trump is back and the Republicans control the House, Malinowski said he hears from people depressed about how things have turned.

He tries to combat that.

“We won (in 2018). We stopped the first Trump Administration dead in its tracks,” Malinowski said.

Talk about wanting the past to be prologue.