This is Bob Avakian—REVOLUTION—number 119.

Some Democratic Party politicians and others tied to the Democratic Party have spoken out against the Trump regime and even called for mass protest against it. But the fact is this: The objectives and priorities of the Democrats, and on the other hand the crucial and urgent need to defeat Trump/MAGA fascism, are not the same—in many important ways they are strongly opposed. And: If the terms of opposition to Trump/MAGA fascism are set by the political power brokers of the Democratic Party, the necessary struggle to defeat, and remove, the fascist Trump regime will be seriously misdirected and fatally weakened.

Why? First, because the basic orientation of the Democratic Party overall is to “funnel” and reduce the struggle against Trump and the fascist Republicans within the narrow confines of electoral politics. Especially with the peculiar way electoral politics works in this country—so that a small number of voters in a small number of states has a deciding role in presidential elections—the dominant forces in the Democratic Party are determined to appeal to so-called “moderate swing voters” and to try to win over some “Trump voters.” (This involves ignoring and betraying the values and inclinations of much of the “base” of the Democratic Party, combined with the approach of blackmailing them into supporting the Democrats anyway, on the basis that the fascist Republican Party is still worse.) Along with the cynical opportunism of this approach, the “mid-term” elections will not happen until late 2026 (and no presidential election is scheduled until late 2028), and anyway there is not any reason to believe that the Trump/MAGA fascists will just accept the results of crucial elections whose outcome they do not like.

There is this even more fundamental fact: Eliminating the underlying causes of this fascism is impossible within the confines of this system, and the Democratic Party’s highest priority is maintaining and enforcing this system. The heads of the Democratic Party will always seek to keep the struggle against this fascist regime within terms and limits that do not threaten the stability of this system. But, even short of a revolution to abolish this system overall, the necessary struggle to defeat and remove this fascist regime requires non-violent but determined and sustained struggle, of millions of people, to bring the functioning of this system, under the rule of the fascists, to a halt—to make the country “ungovernable” by this fascist regime—so that different factors and forces come together, as a big powerful broom sweeping this fascist regime from power.

As I emphasized in my message number 115, there is an urgent need “to bring forward the massive mobilization that will be decisive in fighting for the critical demand that the Trump fascist regime must go—now! 

"This massive mobilization could have a major impact on the dominant institutions of the country, with the possibility of creating conditions that could cause major shifts and ‘realignments’ among them. This is one way in which the Trump fascist regime could be removed from power. But, one way or the other, this regime must go—and non-violent but determined, sustained and growing mass mobilization needs to be built, as the bedrock force to bring about this crucial and urgent objective, as soon as possible, before it really is too late.”

In the most fundamental terms, only a revolution aiming for a whole new system, with a radically, emancipating transformation of the economy, the social relations and political institutions, accompanied by an uplifting culture, can finally bring about an end to the terrible oppression and continual atrocity built into and continually perpetrated by this system of capitalism-imperialism—and can move to uproot the conditions and relations that give rise to and promote fascism.

In immediate terms, as I pointed out in message number 114, a massive struggle of millions united on the basis of determined opposition to the Trump fascist regime is the best way to win over any “ordinary people” who have actually been misled into supporting this fascism.

Right now: The crucial orientation must be overcoming all “divide and conquer” schemes, uniting all who can be united—people with many different political views and perspectives, including those who hold views aligned with the Democratic Party but are actually determined to defeat this Trump/MAGA fascism—creating, through the non-violent but determined and sustained action of massive numbers of people, the political situation where this regime will be removed from power, before it really is too late to put a stop to this fascist horror.