New York City Mayor Eric Adams essentially kissed Donald Trump’s ring at a UFC event over the weekend that effectively doubled as a MAGA rally. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., touted Elon Musk and kvetched over liberals’ justifiable criticism of the tech billionaire. Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, sang the praises of conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s views on health. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Musk’s pseudo-governmental agency focused on “government efficiency” could save hundreds of billions of dollars.
While some liberals are preparing yourself for all-out resistance to Trump’s upcoming presidency, some Democratic officials — such as the four above — seem to have settled on schmoozing as a tactic to help extract what they want, be that political harmony, a potential pardon or even mere competency.
All four received a fair amount of backlash online for their obsequiousness, although Coons did offer a bit more criticism of Musk — and Trump’s Cabinet picks — in his full interview with Fox News. In fact, all of them but Adams have been quite critical of Trump and/or his high-ranking associates before. Polis is even part of a coalition of democratic governors who say they are committed to “safeguarding democracy” from “increasing threats of autocracy.”
But with Trump’s return to the White House on the horizon, they all appear to have concluded that at least a little kissing up is in order.
Let’s see how that turns out.