New York Times columnist pans media, Democrats for lacking strategy to defeat Trump

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New York Times columnist David Brooks slammed left-leaning media outlets and the Democratic Party for failing to find a winning strategy to sink the popularity of former President Trump and remove him from political discourse. 

"Those of us in this establishment correctly identified Trump as a grave threat to American democracy. The task before us was clear. We were never going to shake the hard-core MAGA folks. The job was to peel away independents and those Republicans offended by and exhausted by his antics," Brooks wrote on Thursday. 

Brooks listed off many ways in which the media and their cohorts in the Democratic Party attempted to discredit the former president. Those methods of sabotage include, the "immorality strategy," which involved thousands of articles written focusing in on Trump’s "lies and peccadillos." Other methods included the self-explanatory impeachment strategy, as well as the "exposure strategy," wherein books attempted to expose the "shambolic and ineffective" nature of the Trump administration. 

"The net effect of these strategies has been to sell a lot of books and subscriptions and to make anti-Trumpists feel good. But this entire barrage of invective has not discredited Trump among the people who will very likely play the most determinant role," Brooks wrote. "It has probably pulled some college-educated Republicans into the Democratic ranks and pushed some working-class voters over to the Republican side."

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Brooks added that criticism from "anti-Trumpists," which includes recent rhetoric from President Biden, has not served Trump's dissenters well, and only highlights their "self-indulgence."

"We’re doing things that help those of us in the anti-Trump world bond with one another and that help people in the Trump world bond with one another. We’re locking in the political structures that benefit Trump," Brooks added. 

Brooks observed that attacking Trump personally appears to have little impact, and instead reinforces the position of his supporters, that he must "be their guy" if coastal elites are shouting about him from the rooftops. He added the "core challenge" of defeating Trump is to assuage voters that the fear of a takeover by the "radical left" is a "gross exaggeration."

Labeling himself a "[Ron] DeSantis doubter," Brooks fretted that Trump "absolutely" has a shot at winning the 2024 election, especially given the lack of an effective strategy against him. 

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A recent Suffolk University/USA Today survey suggests many Americans — Republican and Democrat — want new candidates running in the 2024 presidential election.

Roughly 68% of voters said they do not want Biden to run again. Additionally, 65% said they do not want to see Trump make another run for the White House.

Trump has repeatedly teased another run for the presidency but has stopped short of an official declaration.

Trump was asked by Fox News Digital at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas when Republicans could expect a formal announcement.

"It’s certainly not a very long period, the time is coming. I think people are going to be very happy, our country has never been in a position like this, we've lost everything," Trump said. 

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Fox News’ Haris Alic contributed to this report.