Schiff Melts Down Over Democrat Disarray, Admits Lack of Game Plan Against President Trump
California Senator Adam Schiff is sounding the alarm—not over any new initiative from President Donald Trump, but over his own party’s failure to deliver a unified response to the president’s rising popularity and policy wins.
During an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl, Schiff lamented what he called a missed opportunity to counter President Trump’s recent State of the Union address.
“I think the lack of a coordinated response in the State of the Union was a mistake,” Schiff said. “And frankly, it took the focus off of where it should have been, which is on the fact that the president spoke for an hour and 40 minutes and had nothing to say about what he would do to bring down costs for American families that were watching that lengthy address.”
While Schiff accused President Trump of ignoring kitchen-table issues like housing, health care, and child care, many Americans—according to recent polling—don’t seem to share his pessimism. Instead, approval of Trump’s economic agenda and foreign policy approach continues to surge, with Republicans taking the lead on key voter concerns.
Schiff’s comments came in response to fellow Democrat Senator John Fetterman’s brutal assessment of the party’s current direction. Fetterman had called Democrats’ recent messaging a “sad cavalcade of self-owns and unhinged petulance.”
“They’re destroying the economy, and they’re making it harder and harder for Americans to afford things,” Schiff said—ironically pinning the blame on Republicans, even as most economic indicators place the struggles squarely within the legacy of the Biden administration.
ABC’s Karl asked Schiff how Democrats should respond to the president’s growing momentum. He referenced strategist James Carville’s suggestion that the party should essentially “play dead” politically, retreating until it could regroup.
Schiff disagreed, insisting that Democrats needed their “own broad, bold agenda to improve the economic well-being of Americans”—though notably failing to explain why such an agenda never materialized under Democrat leadership.
“We need to be advancing policies and making the arguments about what we have to offer, not simply standing back and letting them collapse under their own corrupt weight,” Schiff said. “To me, that’s not enough. We need to effectively use litigation as we are. We need to effectively use communication to talk to new people in new ways, as we are.”
Meanwhile, other prominent progressives, including Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, rejected Carville’s suggestion as well—claiming the real issue is that Democrats have been too passive for years.
Senator Fetterman took his frustrations public last week, criticizing his own party’s chaotic response to President Trump’s speech before Congress:
“A sad cavalcade of self-owns and unhinged petulance. It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained,” he wrote on X. “We’re becoming the metaphorical car alarms that nobody pays attention to—and it may not be the winning message.”
As the Democrats squabble internally, the numbers continue to break in favor of President Trump and the Republican Party.
According to the latest polling, Republicans now lead on the top two issues for American voters: the economy (R+8) and inflation (R+6). That’s a sharp reversal from just a month ago, when Democrats briefly pulled even on economic trust and led on inflation by a slim margin, according to a Napolitan News Survey.
The GOP’s rebound is widely attributed to the public’s overwhelmingly positive reception of President Trump’s newly brokered trade agreement with China—an economic deal hailed by many as a bold move toward restoring American manufacturing and fighting inflation.
Inflation (29%) and the economy (25%) remain the top two voter concerns, while immigration and health care follow at 12% each. Republicans dominate on immigration (R+16), while Democrats remain ahead only on health care (D+12).
Overall, when asked which party they trust more on the most important issues, 42% of Americans now say Republicans, compared to 41% who trust Democrats, with 6% trusting both and 10% trusting neither.
The trend is clear: President Trump’s America First platform is regaining momentum, while Democrats are too busy blaming each other to present a credible alternative. As Schiff and others bemoan the absence of strategy, Trump continues to lead—with clarity, consistency, and a record of results.